It is hard to imagine a fix for our healthcare system without addressing some thorny issues in primary care.
- There are not enough primary care doctors right now and the shortage is growing.
- The average wait to see a primary care physician can run up to 30 days in many cities.
- 50 years ago half of our physicians were primary care providers.
- By 2000 14 percent of U.S. medical school graduates were entering family medicine.
- By 2005 the figure was 8 percent.
- A recent survey of students interested in internal medicine showed that 98 percent wanted to become specialists.
- We are going to provide healthcare for 46 million of the uninsured. Presumably they will start going to the doctor.
- When Massachusetts added 340,000 citizens to their universal healthcare program the wait to see a primary care physician in Boston jumped to 61 days.
Here is an interesting analysis of the scope of the problem.
Primary-Care Doctor Shortage May Undermine Reform Efforts
By Ashley Halsey III, Washington Post Staff Writer
As the debate on overhauling the nation’s health-care system exploded into partisan squabbling this week, virtually everyone still agreed on one point: There are not enough primary-care doctors to meet current needs, and providing health insurance to 46 million more people would threaten to overwhelm the system.
