Forgiven but not Relieved: US Physician Workforce Consequences of Changes to Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) was established in 2007 for public sector and nonprofit enterprise employees to pursue educational loan forgiveness. Under PSLF, graduates are offered complete loan forgiveness after 120 qualifying monthly payments while employed at public or nonprofit institutions, including payments made during residency for physicians. In response to concerns that PSLF will heavily subsidize lawyers, doctors, and other professionals, the President's 2017 budget proposes limiting maximum forgiveness. Using data from the Association of American Medical Colleges Graduation Questionnaire (n = 55,905; response rate of 80 %), we found that intended participation in PSLF among medical school graduates grew 20 % per year since 2010. Future primary care physicians intend to use PSLF more than programs that were historically designed to promote primary care, such as the National Health Service Corp (NHSC). The federal government's projected cost of PSLF will reach over $316 million for 2014 graduates (net present value), approximately seven times the annual contributions from the NHSC. The proposed cap will reduce the total anticipated forgiveness by nearly two-thirds and substantially reduce subsidies for physicians. More targeted measures of loan forgiveness could be considered, such as making forgiveness contingent on pursuing specialties that society needs or practicing in shortage areas.

Improving cirrhosis care: The potential for telemedicine and mobile health technologies.

Decompensated cirrhosis is a condition associated with significant morbidity and mortality. While there have been significant efforts to develop quality metrics that ensure high-value care of these patients, wide variations in clinical practice exist. In this opinion review, we discuss the quality gap in the care of patients with cirrhosis, including low levels of compliance with recommended cancer screening and other clinical outcome and patient-reported outcome measures. We posit that innovations in telemedicine and mobile health (mHealth) should play a key role in closing the quality gaps in liver disease management. We highlight interventions that have been performed to date in liver disease and heart failure-from successful teleconsultation interventions in the care of veterans with cirrhosis to the use of telemonitoring to reduce hospital readmissions and decrease mortality rates in heart failure. Telemedicine and mHealth can effectively address unmet needs in the care of patients with cirrhosis by increasing preventative care, expanding outreach to rural communities, and increasing high-value care. We aim to highlight the benefits of investing in innovative solutions in telemedicine and mHealth to improve care for patients with cirrhosis and create downstream cost savings.

Opinion and Special Articles: Loan forgiveness options for young neurologists: Current landscape and practice implications.

Increasing education debt has led to the availability of a variety of loan forgiveness options including the Department of Education's Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. This article discusses the current landscape of loan forgiveness options including trends in PSLF for rising neurology trainees, and implications for choices in specialization, employment, practice location, and the pursuit of an academic career. We further provide guidance on how to navigate the various loan forgiveness options that neurology residents and fellows may consider.

Feasibility of Virtual Research Visits in Fox Trial Finder.

BACKGROUND: Fox Trial Finder is an online registry for individuals with and without Parkinson disease (PD) interested in participating in PD research. However, distance or disability could prevent such individuals from participating in traditional, clinic-based research at major centers. OBJECTIVE: Use videoconferencing to connect participants to specialists to: (1) demonstrate feasibility of virtual research visits within this population (2) collect phenotypic data of the participants, (3) validate self-reported diagnosis, and (4) gauge interest in virtual research visits. METHODS: We solicited volunteers throughout the United States through Fox Trial Finder. Interested individuals with PD provided consent, were given web cameras if needed, completed baseline surveys, and downloaded videoconferencing software remotely. Participants had a test connection and assessment appointment which included the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), then a virtual research visit with a neurologist who reviewed their history and assessed their PD using a modified Movement Disorders Society Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale. Neurologists assessed PD diagnosis and symptomatology. Physicians and participants were surveyed about their experience. RESULTS: Of 204 individuals who consented, 166 (81% ) individuals from 39 states completed all visits. The mean age was 62 and mean disease duration was 8.0 years. Mean MoCA score was 26.5, and mean modified MDS-UPDRS motor score was 22.8 (out of a possible 124). Neurologists judged PD as the most likely diagnosis in 97% of cases. Overall satisfaction with the visits was 79% (satisfied or very satisfied) among neurologists and 93% among participants. CONCLUSIONS: Through virtual research visits, neurologists engaged, characterized, and validated self-reported diagnosis in individuals with PD over a broad geography. This model may facilitate future research participation.