Americans alive today have never experienced a real physician shortage. Sure, there have been occasional dips every few years in certain specialties, like when we worried that we may not have enough obstetricians to go around. And after the need for HMO gatekeepers went away, a shortage of primary-care physicians developed and is worsening. But a widespread, sustained doctor drought is American healthcare’s disaster without a preparedness plan.
Peter Fine, president and chief executive officer of Banner Health in Phoenix, disputes the notion of a “looming physician shortage” over the next 10 years or longer. Forget “looming,” Fine says—the shortage is already here. Each of the 20 facilities that Banner operates in seven Western states is already feeling adverse effects, he says. “It is playing out everywhere, whether it is a rural or an urban marketplace. We have not produced enough physicians to serve the population we have in this country. This is only going to get worse because we are not producing enough physicians to meet the needs of the population we have today or the baby boomers of tomorrow.”
The timing really could not be worse. One out of three practicing physicians in the United States is over the age of 55, and many of them are expected to retire in the next 10 or 15 years. Meanwhile, U.S. medical schools have not provided for the loss of 33 percent of the nation’s physician work force. http://www.healthlea...-Enough-Doctors
