The National Health Service Corps has been a key program in offering access to primary care in rural and underserved areas since its establishment in 1972.
President Barack Obama's 2009 stimulus package and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act increased funding for the program, which repays medical education loans for providers working in underserved areas, most at federally qualified community health centers.
Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell announced today that because of to the Affordable Care Act, $283 million has been invested in the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) in fiscal year 2014 to increase access to primary care services in communities that need it most. Today, more than 9,200 Corps clinicians are providing care to approximately 9.7 million patients across the country.
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."
Third-year medical student Elizabeth Junkin works with a patient while Dr. Julia Booth observes. UA News
Per medical school curriculum, an MD candidate is exposed to various types of medicine and specialties in order to gauge their interests and acquire hands-on experience.
With this norm, it may be hard to gain insight into real, long-term medical care. The University of Alabama School of Medicine seeks to remedy this with a new pilot program called Tuscaloosa Longitudinal Community Curriculum (TLC2).
Despite a projected surge in primary care visits as a result of coverage expansion, only one in six recent medical school graduates say they will pursue primary care as their field of residency, survey data from UnitedHealth shows.
Better access to primary care doctors is linked to reduced hospital admissions and emergency department visits, a report from UnitedHealth Group's Center for Health Reform & Moderation shows.
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.
A bill introduced by John Sarbanes (D-MD) would address the nation's primary care physician shortage by funding pilot programs for mid-career, retired, and retiring physicians to continue practicing medicine.
There's a bill floating around in Congress that addresses the nation's primary care physician shortage.
It's called the Primary Care Physician Reentry Act. It's sponsored by Rep. John P. Sarbanes, (D-MD), and there's plenty to like about it.
