Mal-Distibution of Physicians Essay

One area where access to care is a problem is in the rural communities. Healthcare professionals including physicians, nurse practitioners, and nurses all affect the quality and cost of care (Derksen, & Whelan, 2009). Going forward importance needs to be placed on using recourses more efficiently and effectively; these resources include but are not limited to tests, prescriptions,

Similar to my home state of Louisiana, Tennessee has also struggled with a chronic shortage of rural primary care physicians. While this statistic does depict a true challenge for our two states, over the years Meharry Medical College has done an exceptional job in inspiring medical students to one-day practice in a rural setting and bring about better health care to underserved individuals, regardless of race or ethnicity. This aspect

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.

Currently, there is still a large shortage of primary care practitioners in the United States. The margin between available providers and those in need continues to grow. Many people without proper access to care have to delay seeking help for what ails them ("Health Wanted," 2012). Glicken & Miller (2013) state that approximately 16,000 primary care providers would be necessary to meet the existing demand. Rural communities would represent the area of greatest need followed closely by low-income urban areas. The number of underserved individuals is estimated to have reached fifty-seven million. This demand will only increase, as 52,000 primary care providers are expected to be needed by the year 2025 (Glicken & Miller, 2013, p.1883-1889).

The underserved populations have increased exponentially. The Rural Policy Research Institute (2009) defines the medically underserved as, “the ratio of primary care physicians per 1,000 population, the infant mortality rate, the percent of the population with incomes below the poverty level, and the percent of the population age 65 and over.” By that definition, over half the state is considered to be an underserved population. With the demand and needs of the state, it is no surprise that the FNP has become a more utilized provider of healthcare is many settings. There has also been a recent emergence of nurse-managed health centers or (NMHCs), as a form of primary care delivery. According to Espirat and Debisette (2012), NMHCs reduce Medicaid costs, are a great Segway to community outreach and provide quality primary prevention.

‘Some counties don't have certain types of doctors” (Leonard 2). If an individual only has one insurer that supports that area, that insurer may not cover that doctor or hospital in that area, which can result to that individual driving far out of their area, just so they can see a doctor or get their medical treatment for a reasonable price. Individuals are also being limited with options because their insurers may see them as costly, and they could force the individual to go to under resourced hospitals (Goodnough 3). This shows that even if an individual does not live in a rural area and has plenty of options to choose from, they can still be limited in location because their medical treatment can be seen as too expensive, and the insurance company has to figure out a way to save money.

Given that there is a shortage of physicians nationwide it is important to expand the scope of mid-level practitioners such as nurse practitioners and physician’s assistant, who are pivotal in treating the mass influx of patients, especially in underserved areas. Rural communities tend to be poorer, and unable to afford to hire enough physicians, and many rural Americans are less well insured, driving the cost of treatment up (RHF, 2015). The lack of resources and funding in underserved areas means even less incentive for physicians to practice in rural areas. Mid-level practitioners are trained to treat patients with low-level illnesses, provide care to patients with chronic and acute diseases, as well as refer patients with more complex issues

The decline in hospital capacity was accompanied by a rise in staffing. Full-time equivalent personnel rose (Malagi & Kamath, 2016). Most of the additional personnel in hospitals are not focused on patient care but management or administration purposes. The American Hospital Association data shows that outpatient department visits have risen per 1,000 persons indicating that capacity for ambulatory services has risen overtime. Emergency departments have reduced with a larger percentage of closures being in rural areas. Compared to hospitals, physicians have continued to increase. Specialists have increased except for radiologists and general surgeons. There is, however, an uneven distribution of physicians between rural and urban areas. There is an estimated shortage of 3,000 physicians in nonmetropolitan areas. In addition to an increase in physicians, there are new forms of acute-care facilities. There are relatively new facilities that have been accredited. Ambulatory surgery centers have, for instance, risen (Best et al.,

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

Significant health disparities between rural and urban populations have been a major concern in the United States. One prominent factor contributing to the disparities is lack of access to quality care in rural areas which is closely associated with challenges faced by rural health care providers (National Rural Health Association, 2007). Rural hospitals are the key health care provider in rural areas, offering essential health care services to nearly 54 million people (American Hospital Association, 2006). They face a series of challenges such as workforce shortages, rise in health care costs, difficulty in finding access to capital, difficulty in

The morbidity and mortality rates are higher in the rural areas than in the urban areas partly due to the high rates of chronic illness and poor health behaviors. The health care disparities of the rural population have led to negative bias. The bias within the health care field have affected clinical judgment and decision making (Blair, Steiner, & Havranek, 2011). Bias further lead and exponentiate health disparities, continuing the trends and challenges among the rural population. Economic status is another negative impact of health care disparities among the rural population. Their low economic status continues to effect the availability of resources to improve the health care infrastructure and specialization. Health reform is needed to improve the effects of the health care disparities and their negative impacts on the rural

Rural Americans face an exclusive combination of issues that create disparities in health care that are not found in urban areas. Many complications met by healthcare providers and patients in rural arears are massively different than those located in urban areas. Financial factors, cultural and social variances, educational deficiencies, lack of acknowledgement by delegates and the absolute isolation of living in remote rural areas all combined to hinder rural Americans in their struggle to lead a normal, healthy life. Rural hospitals located in rural areas faces many disadvantages, such as; minimum resources, shortcoming or unprepared professionals, and financial disparities. Although many of these challenges could be solved

An alarming issue that has occurred over the past 10 years is the lack of potential primary care candidates. The practice overall has experience a modest decline of late as the number of medical students and

There are two principal conditions leading to physician shortages in rural communities according to Wright and colleagues. They are “demand-deficient”, meaning they have insufficient populations and resources to support a physician practice, they are “ambiance-challenged,” meaning they are isolated, lack quality services and amenities, and/or are in geographically unattractive settings, or a combination of the two sets of conditions. Inner-city physician shortages are a more recently recognized issue. They are affected by the same conditions, though the specifics are different (Wright, Andrilla, and Hart 2001).

Geographic maldistribution has creates barriers of care to people living in rural areas. Although there is an oversupply of physician specialists in many of the urban healthcare areas around the world, while the inner cities and rural community are struggling to attract healthcare physician professional to provide high quality care to the local population. “The supply of specialties has increased more than 100% over the last 20 years, while supply of generalists has increased only 18%” (Niles,2014). Any shortage of health workers can prevent good access to health services and is a barrier to universal coverage. The issue of the matter is that maldistribution of health workers between urban and rural is consider to be virtual concern around