The following principles will guide the OMA’s advocacy efforts in health care workforce planning:
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The OMA is committed to supporting the development and retention of an adequate number of well-educated physicians in all specialties to meet anticipated health and health care needs of all Oregonians.
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To enhance access to care, workforce planning should utilize data on all aspects of the health care system, including projected demographics of physicians and the population, as well as the number and roles of other health professionals.
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OMA encourages and supports collaborative efforts with the Oregon Board of Medical Examiners and other organizations in the collection of physician workforce data in sufficient detail to describe current physicians' practice activities.
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OMA will be integrally involved in any healthcare workforce planning efforts sponsored by federal or state governments, or by the private sector.
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OMA will support improvement in the practice environment and work actively to influence government policy to attract and retain adequate numbers of physicians and an appropriate specialty mix to meet the needs of the entire state.
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OMA will promote the distribution of physicians of all specialties to rural Oregon, work to reduce barriers that inhibit physicians from establishing rural medical practices and create incentives to make practice in rural and underserved areas more attractive.
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OMA supports efforts to further diversify the physician population to reflect the diversity of Oregon’s citizenry.