PCP Shortage Affects Hospitalists; What are the Options?

With worsening doctor shortages expected in many areas of medicine, including hospital medicine, the expected shortfall in primary care doctors is particularly sobering. A 2021 report from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) estimated that by 2034 the U.S. will have a shortage of between 18,000 and 48,000 primary care physicians (PCPs), with a shortage of non-primary care specialists between 21,000 and 77,000.1 Dr. Kaufmann Lisa Kaufmann, MD, is the medical director of the Appalachian Regional Healthcare System hospitalist program and clinical inpatient faculty at the Mountain Area Health Education Center Boone family medicine residency in Boone, N.C. She pointed out that changing demographics, including an aging population and continued immigration, is a primary driver of this trend. Current estimates project that the U.S. population will grow from about 334 million in 2023 to 363 million by 2034. This growth is expected to be particularly pronounced for Americans 65 and older, a population with high health care needs.1 Dr. Ricotta A large part of the physician workforce is also approaching retirement age, another component of the projected shortage. Daniel Ricotta, MD, a hospitalist and associate program director of the internal medicine residency program at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, Boston, added, “A big aspect of our workforce shortage is that physicians are practicing fewer ho...
Source: The Hospitalist - Category: Hospital Management Authors: Tags: Career Practice Management Source Type: research