You’re not the only one getting older. Take a look at your doctor.
One in 10 active physicians is between the ages of 65 and 75 — retirement age. More than a quarter is 55 to 64 — likely to retire within the decade.
The graying of our doctors and ourselves is part of the larger problem of access to health care. The goal of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, is to help everyone get insurance. Then what?
Patient emergency room visits rose sharply at hospitals with the highest ER use in 2013, the last year before the Affordable Care Act's insurance expansion kicked in, according to Modern Healthcare magazine's latest By The Numbers.
And many of the hospitals with the busiest ERs in 2013 are reporting even higher volumes in 2014 despite the nation's declining uninsured rate.
“We're seeing a failure of access to care,” said Dr. Howard Mell, a practicing ER physician in northeast Ohio and spokesman for the American College of Emergency Physicians.
Increasing access to primary care services in poor and rural communities means approaching the issue on multiple fronts, including telemedicine, patient engagement, and coordinated care, a payer's report suggests.
Rural and economically disadvantaged areas of the country pose a daunting challenge to boosting primary care services, a recent UnitedHealth Group study has found. But there is no single pathway toward expanding access and capacity, it suggests.
"Approximately 50 million Americans live in areas with an under-supply of primary care physicians. Most of these areas are rural," says the report, "Advancing Primary Care Delivery: Practical, Proven, and Scalable Approaches."
It’s no secret that America has a shortage of primary care physicians and that the shortage is only going to get worse as the Affordable Care Act provides access to care for more U.S. citizens.
Phoenix has one of the worst physician shortages in the nation, according to a recent BetterDoctor.com ranking.
