As its name insists, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is supposed to give more American access to reasonably-price healthcare, but this affordability would prove fruitless if the number of primary care physicians in the United States continues to decrease.
Recent findings from the likes of SERMO, the largest online community of physicians, show that amongst all provider specialties family and internal medicine are two of three unhappiest groups of physicians, 62 percent and 60 percent, respectively. Only obstetricians and gynecologists come in lower at 59 percent. For internists and family physicians, dissatisfaction with lifestyle was a common factor leading many to rethink their choice of specialty, 25 and 23 percent, respectively.
“These are the doctors on the front lines in medicine who are seeing the increase pressure and in particular now with the ACA in play and a higher stream of patients coming in,” SERMO CEO Peter Kirk tells EHRIntelligence.com. “It is still a challenging work environment and they are at the lower end of the pay scale. Those are the ones looking to change whereas those on the higher end of the pay scale — orthopedists, physiatrists, oncologists, etc. — are happiest with their professions.”
Although these physicians admit to dissatisfaction with their choice of specialty, it does not mean that they are leaving it for another. So then why is this problematic? The answer to that question is seen in the choices made by the next waves of physicians, residents, who are opting more lucrative and less stressful professional positions.
“Based on some of the conversations on the site, you can build a sense of how much there is a drive toward specialty right off,” Kirk explains. “Having your own private practice as a primary care physician is not the dream anymore. It doesn’t pay the bills. There’s too much complexity, too much involved in running a business. This is driving residents into searching for the best-paid specialties in order to help pay of their debt and have a nice head start moving forward.”
Here lies the basis on predictions that physician shortages are only a matter of time. The ACA and increase of insured Americans should only serve to exacerbate the stresses associated with primary care.
“There will not be enough real doctors at the front lines of primary care to handle the workload, especially with the ACA adding 30 million additional patients to the system,” maintains SERMO’s CEO. “More pressure and more of the primary care are being assigned to non-physicians. The NPs and PAs are likely to do more of the work. That’s going to play out over the next five to ten years.”
A solution to the problem?
The physician shortage problem is real, but what can be done about it? Both the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and American Medical Association (AMA) believe the solution to be found in graduate medical education.
Crediting medical schools for increasing enrollments and students for responding with an increasing number of applications, the AAMC is placing the onus on lawmakers:
Now Congress must do its part by lifting the cap on the number of federally supported residency training positions. Lawmakers have responded with proposals in the House and Senate to increase the number of residency positions. But they must act now in order to ensure that there are enough physicians for our growing and aging population.
Meanwhile, the AMA has developed a new policy to encourage state and federal legislators and private payers help fund residents in training with an emphasis on promoting the teaching of team-based and patient-centered care models by accrediting associations.
Through its Accelerating Change in Medical Education initiative, the AMA has convened nearly a dozen medical schools to decrease disparities in medical education. “As more patients continue to receive health care coverage, it is essential that the next generation of physicians is sufficiently trained,” said AMA Board Member Stephen Permut, MD.
Health information technology (IT) has a role to play in easing the burdens on providers if developed, implemented, and used properly. But it is still only a support and no substitute for the skill and expertise of physicians using it.
Source:
Kyle Murphy, PhD
EHR Intelligence
