Physician shortage and who will care for the newly insured?

Oct. 25, 2010 - PRLog -- Demand for physicians continues to outstrip supply, and the problem is likely to get worse, according to new data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Many sources are reporting the coming shortage of physicians. One key source underscoring the problem is the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which concluded recently that the entire healthcare sector added 28,500 jobs (including nursing, medical technicians and others) in October. This included 4,800 jobs in physician offices and 10,000 in hospitals.

Previous projections showed a baseline shortage of 39,600 physicians by 2015. Current estimates bring that number closer to 63,000 physicians in five years and 91,500 by 2020. Foremost in the shortage are physicians in specialties such as cardiology, oncology and emergency medicine.

The U.S. Healthcare Reform Plan, signed into law by President Obama in March, is designed to provide insurance to 32 million Americans who are currently uninsured due to factors of pre-existing conditions, unemployment, costs or a range of other factors.

With the country already struggling with a critical physician shortage, the problem will only increase as these32 million new patients acquire healthcare coverage, and the baby boomer generation (those born between1946 and 1964) enters retirement, adding 36 million people to Medicare.

The new healthcare plan also calls for Congress to increase funding (capped since 1997) to train new physicians. While the enrollment of medical school students continues to increase, adding a projected 8,000 new physicians per year, it will still not fill the void.

“With retiring physicians who have worked for over 60 hours a week for years are being replaced by graduating residents who only want to work 40 hours a week, the projection is that it will take almost two new physicians to replace the one retiring.” said Curtis Pryor, CEO of Arthur Marshall, Inc. a leading physician search firm in Irving, TX

“Most graduating residents want to stay within 50 miles of home or where they graduated” said Mr. Pryor “Which is adding to the existing strain to maintain quality patient care in mid-sized and smaller cities. We are finding that many hospitals in these markets are increasing incentives and offering to pay off all of a resident’s medical school loans to stay competitive with the larger markets.”

The long-term solution may be in the acceleration of Physician Assistant programs and a reliance on technology to help a new generation of physicians who has accepted technology as a way of life.

As an example, remote-controlled robots are already in place in some smaller communities in Texas, allowing a physician to interact with a patient and have all of the patient’s vital information to diagnose and prescribe treatment from hundreds of miles away. Should this and other trends continue, the phrase “the doctor will see you now” may take on a whole new meaning.

ARTHUR / MARSHALL is the nation's premier provider of physician search and health care human capital solutions and strategies. The firm represents physician practice opportunities in most all specialties of medicine and has clients in most regions of the United States. The founding principles of ARTHUR / MARSHALL are pioneers in the field of physician recruitment and have amassed over 36 years of proven success.

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ARTHUR / MARSHALL is the nation's premier provider of physician search and health care human capital solutions and strategies.