Shortage In Primary Care

There is a growing trend where physicians are choosing different specialties instead of choosing primary care, primarily due to the low reimbursement rate in primary care. According to Iglehart (2014),” the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) still projects a shortage of 130,000 physicians by 2025, split almost equally between primary and specialty care” (para. 1). With this decline comes an answer, an increase in the number of nurse practitioners providing patient care, reported 154,00 in 2012 and growing every year (Iglehart, 2014). This increase in nurse practitioners’ helps fill that gap, allow greater health care access to the community, especially special populations. By gaining access to healthcare were a nurse practitioner is the provider not only with the special population have high quality affordable health care, a trusting long lasting relationship will develop. This relationship will break the barriers of; lack of trust, lack of health care education and discrimination. Nursing is a trusted profession that provides education and care that no other health care professional

While the demand of healthcare need increasers the United States facing a physician shortage. In recent years the number of nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) has significantly increased and they are taking the part in providing healthcare cervices to the majority of patients. I believe nurse practitioners and physician assistants can practice independently from doctors and be free of oversight. Expanding the scope of NPs and PAs is essential to overcome the healthcare crisis we are facing; it will increase patient satisfaction and stabilizing the healthcare economy.

We have an aging physician population that are reaching the age of retirement. It takes three to seven years to fully train a new

The role of a physician assistant was created specifically to help adjust for the shortages of physicians. Unfortunately, these shortages are occurring in underserved communities that need readily available healthcare facilities and employees. Physician assistants, are trained to be able to handle a wide variety of health disease, and with a background in public health physician assistants are able to extend the “one provider, one patient” mentality and focus on the community as a whole. PAs not only treat disease, but they also promote health, decreasing healthcare demand through preventive care. For example, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has four foundational health principles that align with the type of care that PAs

One of the important acts that brought in the role of the Physician Assistants is the Affordable Care Act--ACA, passed by Congress in 2010 which created a value for the PA profession. Thus now there is a "formal recognition of PAs as providers of patient-centered, team-based primary medical care." (Hanson, Physician Assistants: Recognized, Valued in Healthcare Reform) Physician Assistants are now one of the vital parts of healthcare professionals in the U.S, and they are now integrated into newly established models of coordinated care. PAs are indispensable

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.

The shortage of physician primary care provider, has created public awareness bringing about the demand of the advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs). The APRN has the necessary training to assess, diagnose and treat patients. As the role of APRN begin to expand the need to prescribe medications becomes very important. According to the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP), APRN practice in the United States is divided into three groups: full practice, reduced practice, or restricted practice.

As the primary care physician shortage continues to rise along with the healthcare costs many states are looking for a solution to the crisis. Some states have already passed laws that have removed the limitations of a nurse practitioner’s ability to practice. Pennsylvania is currently not one of these states but that may soon change if the Senate Bill 1063 is passed (Larson, 2014).

In 1965, due to a scarcity of primary care providers, the first educational program for Physician Assistants (PAs) was established in the United States (Bodenheimer & Cramback, 2009). The initial role of PAs was to improve and expand health care at a primary care level. Nonetheless, over the years, the function of PAs in health care evolved drastically. Currently, the demand for PAs continues to rise at a national and international level. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the differences and similarities of PAs education, barriers, recognition, and scope of practice and health care delivery in other countries.

Henry (2015) attempts to understand the role of PAs in delivering health care to medically underserved populations through the use of community health centers. This article focused on a PAs relationship within

As America’s aging population continues to grow, chronic illnesses become more apparent, and access to health insurance increases the community now finds that there is a significant shortage, but high demand, for health care providers. In 2010, the Affordable Care Act passed, with hopes to improve the quality of health care by providing affordable and accessible healthcare. As insurance rates decreased, the rate of uninsured individuals increased, producing a need for healthcare providers (Gutchell, Idzik, lazear, 2014). With a shortage of primary care providers in the health care system, advance practice registered nurses (ARPNs) stepped in to fill the increasing need. APRNs have been in practice for years, yet certain states have placed limitations and regulations against APRN practice. These regulations predominantly restrict APRNs from practicing to their full potential and

The overall health care industry has undergone fundamental change over the last decade. Most of the changes have occurred within the underlying business operation of the healthcare industry. Legislation in particular has had a profound impact on the health care industry. First, due to the Affordable Care Act of 2010, the nursing profession is undergoing a fundamental shift in regards to the patient experience. The U.S. health care system is now shifting the focus from acute and specialty care to that of primary care which requires a shift in business operations. Also, due primarily to that aging of the baby boomer generation, the need for primary car overall is shifting and will be needed heavily in the future. The last 10 years in particular has seen an increasing influx of retiring baby boomers that subsequently need care. A positive impact on the ACA legislation is that more individuals are now insured. As such, the need for primary care will also increase over subsequent years, particular within the minority population. This patient centric approach will require more care predicated on specific communities in a seamless manner. Furthermore, primary care physicians will be in high demand over the coming years.

Primary care physicians are declining as the demand for them increase. “It is currently projected that by 2025, there will be a shortage of approximately 65,000 primary care physicians in the United States” (Cockrell, Nove). Between 2000 and 2010 emergency department visits increased by almost twenty four percent. Since 2010 with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), health care coverage will expand to include over 32 million Americans within the next 10 years. This will cause the demand for primary care services to increase (Cockrell,

The potential shortage of physicians in the future is an aspect of medicine that causes me the most concern. In present day, many individuals are unable to see physicians due to lack of insurance or other problems. It worries me that in the future, even if we were to progress so that everyone would be able to have access to proper medical care, there may not be enough physicians to provide this care. There are projections that by 2025, the demand for physicians may exceed the supply by well over 40,000. I believe that it is important for the country to start now in finding new ways to try and decrease this gap as much as possible. While it may be impossible to completely eradicate the shortage, we can definitely find new ways to improve the

The number of physicians in the country has been decreasing at such a great rate that the government and other stakeholders in the health care sector are trying to camouflage this by increasing the number of foreign doctors practicing in the country. The American Medical Association has been trying to promote these re-entry programs designed for physicians since the year 2009 to help curb this problem. There are many people who can see what the problem is, but it is not possible for them to do much about it. Physicians also see this problem, and they are well aware of why the shortage is arising, but they are also unable to do much to prevent the issue. There are many problems that lead to the shortage of physicians, and unless something is done, it will continue escalating ADDIN EN.CITE Lynch19721573(Lynch, 1972)1573157317Lynch, MichaelThe Physician "Shortage": The Economists' MirrorAnnals of the American Academy of Political and Social ScienceAnnals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science82-88399ArticleType: research-article / Issue Title: The Nation's Health: Some Issues / Full publication date: Jan., 1972 / Copyright © 1972 American Academy of Political and Social Science1972Sage Publications, Inc. in association with the American Academy of Political and Social Science00027162http://www.jstor.org/stable/1040122( HYPERLINK l "_ENREF_6" o "Lynch, 1972 #1573" Lynch, 1972).