Family Physicians Perceptions

Bangor Family Physicians is a partner based medical group practice located in Maine. The practice consists of four family practice physicians, and a medical support staff. The medical support staff is made up of a practice manager, two receptionists, four nurses, two medical assistants, two billing clerks, and a laboratory technician. Additionally, Bangor Family Physicians employs a CPA to assist with taxes and financial advising. The key stakeholders are the four family physician partners, in which each physician holds an equal stake in the practice.

Another threat is the current state of rural hospitals nationwide. According to the case study, about 25% of Americans live in rural areas and only about 10% of physicians actually practice in rural areas. There is a 15% gap in the ratio of rural citizens to available practicing physicians. This is a threat to ELH’s need to attract and hire more physicians. In relation to rural hospitals, citizens have longer drive times to their medical facilities. This causes them to delay routine visits which subsequently exacerbates

The United States has a significant “delivery of care” issue wherein physicians (and other HCPs) are concentrated in and around major cities and densely populated areas. This leaves rural populations with fewer physicians and more difficult access to care.

Providing care in primary care is less costly than a physician since since they tend

With the baby boomers aging, the need for primary care providers has been in high demand now more than ever.

Compared to many other countries, the United States has a healthcare system much more focused on specialists than general practitioners. Instead of using primary care providers as the gate keepers, many patients seek care directly from specialists. Additionally, with the constant pressure of malpractice or improper practice accusations, primary care providers are less willing to provide services outside of the basic realm of general care. This leads to an abundance of specialist referrals, many of which might be unnecessary. Further, evidence shows that specialists are generally compensated at a higher rate than general practitioners. This combination of factors has led to and is continuing to foster reduced numbers of general practitioners and increasing numbers of specialists. This trend may become a danger to the industry. General practitioners are crucial in maintaining population level health, increasing access, and reducing costs. As the number of general providers dwindles we risk returning towards a healthcare system with limited access. If we want to reverse this trend, we must recreate the norm that relies on general practitioners as a trustworthy and competent first line of service. This will require incentivizing medical professionals to train as general practitioners and reassuring individuals that these providers can provide a variety of services. Renewing the trust and utilization of general practitioners can ultimately lead to reduced costs and increased

Economics and health were two independent subjects in high school, but nothing is truly independent in the real world. Supply and demand, one of the principals of economics, perfectly sums up the problem with primary health care. The supply of primary care physicians, also known as PCPs, is lacking by almost 52,000 providers to be able to fulfill the demand of the public within the next couple of years, and this isn’t a new issue (Petterson et al., 2012). Since the 1970’s there has been a shortage of PCPs, and it is becoming a bigger problem as the population grows and ages (Wilensky, 2014). The number of PCPs currently in the United States is not enough to meet the needs of the population. The view of primary care physicians and their salaries need to change in the U.S. to encourage more medical students to enter this much-needed field of practice. This paper will explore the reasons behind the shortage of PCPs and how the Affordable Care Act and the American Nurses Association are addressing this issue.

According to Freudenberg and Olden, one way to reduce the health disparities is by making the availability of primary care physicians better. (Buchbinder, 2012, p. 327) A primary care physician in the United States make less money than a specialist, so the amount of doctor's choosing to go in to primary care is significantly less than those who choose to enter a specialty. A primary care physician is like the captain at the head of a person's health they are in charge of screenings and counseling and to address the burden of chronic disease. In addition, which specialists if any are necessary to help manage the patient's disease if it is outside of the scope of practice for the primary care. Raising the amounts insurance pays to primary care

According to Health Resources and Services Administration If the system for providing primary care in 2020 were to stay fundamentally the same as today, there will be an estimated shortage of 20,400 primary care physicians ("Projecting the Supply and Demand for Primary Care Practitioners Through 2020," n.d.). In addition this projection doesn’t include the decreasing number of people perusing the medical degree and the baby boomers retiring form this filed of science. In the hand we are experiencing a significant increase in NPs and PAs. Considering this projected shortage, which is actually a very frightening situation the increasing number of NPs and PAs, can effectively be integrated; we could reduce the number of physician shortage by over 69 percent in 2020.

The main objective of this research question is to analyze the factors that led to the shortage of primary care physicians. The United States did not substantively address the primary care until the 1960s when two noteworthy reports characterized U.S. primary care. The decline in the number of general practitioners led to the evolution of primary care physicians in the past during the 1960s. Their role served many

Even after half a decade there remains a shortage in primary care providers with only a reported one forth of medical school graduates seeking residencies in family practice, pediatrics, and obstetrics/gynecology. The FNP is a qualified clinically competent healthcare member that can fill this void in primary care in this cost-sensitive society. Despite barriers like the lack of third-party reimbursement, prescriptive authority, and hospital admission privileges the projected employment

Many physicians in family practice have solo practice settings and receive fees based on services. A study by Hunter et al (2004) showed that many family physicians opposed capitation and patient rosters because many believe that capitation will lead to loss of autonomy. The competition for patients may increase under capitated payment and physicians would move to less serviced areas to attract more patients under their team (Hunter et al., 2004). Another research from Cohen, Ferrier, Woodward, & Brown (2001), found that only five percentage of Ontario family physicians believed that primary care reform will have a positive effect on them. Many family physicians were concerned about changes in practice

On an average, primary physician groups may see about four or five patients within an hour, probably about one patient every fifteen minutes. Because of increase productivity and cost restraints and pressures, this number could increase dramatically. This trend, unfortunately, will be matching the burden of physicians declining incomes and job market. A lessor number of physicians earn what physicians earned many years ago. Primary health has been affected more as compared to services rendered. Additionally, the shift to a bundled fee for performance from the fee for service reimbursement system for force solo practicing physicians and small group practices into forming or partnering into

With the United States population living longer and the Baby boomers retiring there is a shortage of providers and provider appointments to meet the needs of all patients. This along with

The medical home concept is not new, as it is built on health care practice innovations that have arisen over the past 40 years (Kilo & Wasson, 2010). From these principles, a multitude of medical home projects and demonstrations across the United States have grown (PCPCC, 2011). Given the unique characteristics of each of the numerous projects promoting the PCMH model, it is difficult to obtain generalizable evidence of the effectiveness of the model (van Hasselt, et. al., 2015). However, the most fundamental aspect of the medical home model—the primary care provider – can be the source of the effective functioning of the model, and its direct benefit to the Medicare-eligible population. The role of primary care within a health care system has been tied to health services’ costs, with some evidence supporting the idea that health care delivery systems that place an emphasis on primary care have lower overall health costs (Starfield & Shi, 2004). Although the medical home model is not just about primary care, it places a priority on this type of care as a critical aspect of patient care. As a result, evidence of the success of primary care can carry through to the PCMH model.