Primary Care Physicians

The aim of the ACA is to provide affordable health care to all Americans, but it still leaves some issues unaddressed that will impact the access to health care. Covino (n.d.), “Though the intentions of the legislation are good, the Affordable Care Act does little to improve the actual health care delivery system” (para.1, page 2). According to the American Medical Association, we are facing an increasing Physician shortage. As of 2010 we faced a shortfall of 13,700 physicians, the estimate is that number will increase to 62,900 by 2015, 91,500 by 2020, and 130,600 by 2025 (Krupa, n.d.), with primary care taking the largest impact. Health Care coverage will be of no benefit if there are no doctors to treat the patients. An example of this occurred in 2002 when Thailand’s’ “30 Bhat Scheme” added (CNN n.d.) “14 million people to the country’s health care system, resulting in long waits and subpar service” (Your health is covered, but who is going to treat you?) Several factors contribute to the physician shortage. Many physicians are reaching the age of retirement, the Association of American Medical Colleges estimates nearly 15 million physicians will be eligible for Medicare in the coming years (CNN n.d.). The increasing cost of malpractice insurance also deters many from pursuing a career in medicine, and is forcing some doctors to retire. Also contributing to the physician shortage is a lack of spots in residency programs. “In 2011, more than 7,000 were left

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 new federal health-care law has raised the stakes for hospitals and schools already struggling to train more doctors. Evidence suggests there won’t be enough number of doctors to treat the newly insured millions under the ACA. At current graduation and training rates, America faces a shortage of as many as 150,000 doctors in the next 15 years, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. The greatest demand will be for primary-care physicians. Emergency rooms, the only choice for patients who can't find care elsewhere, may grow even more with longer wait times under the new health law. That might come as a surprise to those who thought getting 32 million more people covered by health insurance would ease ER

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 purpose of this paper is to address the issue of the physician shortage in Unite State of America. This is more exactly delineate as a gap between the population’s demand for primary care services and the capacity of primary care, as currently delivered, respond to the demand. According to Nile (2015), physician is person trained and licensed to practice medicine or an individual with a Doctor degree in medicine. Physicians play a central role in health care delivery. Although now, physicians are sharing patient care responsibility with a team of Physician assistant (PA) and Nurse Practitioner (NP), especially with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act implementations. The PA and NP are alternative to medical doctor or physician

Although the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has increased the number of insured, the problem of access to primary care still remains an issue due to the large pool of individuals who are now receiving coverage. Nonetheless, even if the current health care reform debate increases insurance coverage, residents in areas with inadequate physician supply will still have greater difficulty receiving timely and appropriate clinical care (Walker et al. 2010). Over the last decade the healthcare system has continues with relatively the same level of access to care for most Americans, and although there is an upwards of 84% of Americans have some form of insurance, the rising cost of care, the large group of uninsured and underinsured, and the lack of focus on

There is expected to be roughly 17 million individuals becoming newly insured through the Medicaid Expansion of the PPACA by 2019 (Carrier, Yee, & Stark, 2011). The expansion of Medicaid will create a major supply and demand issue within the health care services. Simply put, the demand for primary care services will exceed the capacity of the current primary care infrastructure. This will only add to health care spending because the newly insured individuals will not have many options to obtain primary care services and they may be forced to use inappropriate services such

One of the biggest challenges fueling the primary care shortage is the increase in demand mainly due to the population growth, ever increasing aging population and the full implementation of the Affordable Care Act. According to the data released by the economic modeling and forecasting firm, the estimated shortfall of primary care

Advances in medical science and technology still have force and effect on how our health care system has and will evolve over time. We have a technologically driven health care system. Our educational system shapes our health care system through its training methods and emphasis on the medical model. Depending on the discipline, training may key on treating rather than preventing disease. This generates demand for service delivery. Training of new physicians takes time and money. Because the costs for a medical education are significant, many students seek postgraduate training in a

Primary care in the United States has been in a state of neglect or of being underfunded for a long time. This dysfunctional state has been allowed to occur despite evidence, which shows the importance of primary care in creating healthy outcomes and controlling costs. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) tries to address some of these issues by:

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.

With an expanding and aging population, the demand for physicians has never been higher. Rural regions across the country are already experiencing physician shortages, specifically in primary care. According to the Association of America Medical Colleges, the United States will have a shortage of more than 130,600 physicians by 2025, equally split between general practitioners and other medical specialties. Although its true that the number of medical students being trained in the United States is increasing due to the opening of new medical schools and expansion of class size, the number of practicing physicians will not increase unless the number of residency slots is increased. The number of residency training slots is the bottleneck to increasing the number of practicing physicians. New doctors need to complete a residency-training program in order to practice medicine, and these training slots are becoming progressively more competitive. The programs are limited in size, and the increasing number of medical school graduates leaves medical doctors without a enough training slots. The looming doctor shortage will only get worse if medical school graduates continue to be left out of residency training programs, and are forced to wait till the following year to re-apply.

Very informative post Bonnie! No doubt, there is a shortage of primary care providers all over the United States and lack of insurance on top of that can make the conditions worse. In year 2006, the state of Massachusetts expand the insurance coverage of its population, but the healthcare workforce in unable to meet this high demand, which results in long waiting lists to see patients. The average time of getting on appointment with internist was 17 days in year 2005, which is increased to 31 days in year 2008, which increases both provider and patient frustration. This result in higher death and disease rates, higher disparity in health and higher emergency room visits. Many issues can be handled over the phone or via email, by a nurse or

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

The Affordable Care Act set forth millions of dollars to address the problems and concerns that are associated with existing physicians shortages. The Affordable Care Act also has provisions that are aimed to improve the education, ongoing training as well as to help with the recruitment of nursing, physicians, doctors as well as other health care personnel. In addition, there are provisions in place that help to increase workforces’ cultural competency, enhance faculty training of healthcare professionals, and diversity. The provisions also play a vital role because of the fact they are put into place to examine innovative reimbursement and care delivery models that highlight primary care services value and offer in improvement in the patient care coordination.