Rep. David Derby touts study that finds large shortage of primary care physicians in the state of Oklahoma
2.24.16– CapitolBeatOK Staff Report, CapitolBeatOK
Oklahoma City — Avalere Health recentlyreleased a national study (http://avalere.com/expertise/life-sciences/insights/prescription-only-pseudoephedrine-containing-products-contribute-to-growing) that analyzed a number of states facing a primary care physician shortage as well as the costs that consumers would face if the state enacted a new prescription requirement for existing over-the-counter (OTC) medicines containing pseudoephedrine (PSE).The Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA) (http://www.capitolbeatok.com/reports/a-tale-of-two-states-oregon-and-oklahoma-from-the-consumer-products-health-care-association) sent the report to news organizations in Oklahoma and across the nation.
The study, entitled “Prescription-Only Pseudoephedrine containing products contribute to growing primary care phsician shortage,”
found that 57 million Americans live in regions that lack adequate access to primary healthcare due to a shortage of physicians in their communities and that the U.S. health system will have a deficit of 52,000 doctors by 2025, but an increasing population in need of primary care.
In Oklahoma, the study found that the state has 167 primary care physician shortage areas, with 25 percent of Oklahoma already living in an area without enough doctors. Additionally, the study found that placing a new prescription requirement for current OTC medicines containing PSE would create an additional 23,254 new doctor visits in the state, creating an unnecessary additional workload burden on a physician community that is already facing a shortage, costing $400,000 in new Medicaid spending on unnecessary doctor visits and prescriptions, and resulting in $700,000 in lost sales tax revenue for Oklahoma in the first year alone.