By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    healthcare cybersecurity
    4 Helpful Tips on How to Protect Your Medical Practice Against Cyber Attacks
    October 24, 2021
    Health Check Diagnosis Medical Condition Analysis Concept
    6 Health Woes With Online Remedies
    January 19, 2022
    Eight Things Men Should Know About the Male Menopause
    Eight Things Men Should Know About the Male Menopause
    April 24, 2022
    Latest News
    Why Custom Telemedicine Apps Outperform Off‑the‑Shelf Solutions
    July 20, 2025
    How Probate Planning Shapes the Future of Your Estate and Family Care
    July 17, 2025
    Beyond Nutrition: Everyday Foods That Support Whole-Body Health
    June 15, 2025
    The Wide-Ranging Benefits of Magnesium Supplements
    June 11, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    Image
    The Geographic Divide: How Federalism Has Formalized Health Disparities
    June 17, 2014
    Henderson Cosmetic Dentist Marielaina Perrone DDS
    Antibiotic Guidelines For Dental Patients
    January 24, 2013
    Practice Pointers in the Wake of the Johns Hopkins Hospital Privacy Settlement
    August 13, 2014
    Latest News
    How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
    July 17, 2025
    How Health Choices and Legal Actions Intersect After an Injury
    July 17, 2025
    How communities and healthcare providers can address slip and fall injuries with legal awareness
    July 17, 2025
    Let Your Lawyer Handle the Work Before You Pay Medical Costs
    July 6, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Physician Capacity
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Policy & Law > Health Reform > Physician Capacity
Health ReformHospital AdministrationPolicy & LawPublic Health

Physician Capacity

Greg Scandlen
Greg Scandlen
Share
7 Min Read
SHARE

A little while ago Scott Gottleib and Zeke Emmanuel co-authored an op-ed in The New York Times pooh-poohing the concern about physician shortages.

A little while ago Scott Gottleib and Zeke Emmanuel co-authored an op-ed in The New York Times pooh-poohing the concern about physician shortages.

So certain are they that conventional wisdom is wrong that the piece is headlined, “No, There Won’t be a Doctor Shortage.” Right, and “if you like your health plan, you can keep your health plan — period”. Somehow such bold assertions have lost a bit of their luster over the past few months.

Now, they acknowledge that an aging population and the prospect of 30 million newly insured people may make it seem like there might be a problem, and the Association of American Medical Colleges says their members aren’t able to train enough physicians to fill the need, but what do they know about physician supply? Gottleib and Emmanuel know better.

More Read

Do Electronic Health Records Reduce Malpractice Claims?
Top 5 Facts About CPPA Accreditation
“Unmet Recovery Needs” We Must Address
The Expensive Process of Med School Application
AskBlue Tries to Explain Health Insurance and Obamacare

As Exhibit 1, they look at Massachusetts. They write –

Take Massachusetts, where ObamaCare-style reforms were implemented beginning in 2006, adding nearly 400,000 people to the insurance rolls. Appointment wait times for family physicians, internists, pediatricians, obstetricians and gynecologists, and even specialists like cardiologists, have bounced around since but have not appreciably increased overall, according to a Massachusetts Medical Society survey.

That is a wild mischaracterization of the Medical Society’s research. The press release about the 2013 survey quotes Dr. Ronald Dunlop, president of the group, as saying –

Our latest survey once again points out a critical characteristic of health care in the Commonwealth. While we’ve achieved success in securing insurance coverage for nearly all of our residents, coverage doesn’t guarantee access to care. The concern is that limited and delayed access can lead to undesirable results, as people will seek more costly care at emergency rooms, delay care too long, or not seek care at all.

He doesn’t sound as complacent as Gottleib and Emmanuel. The release goes on to say −

The 2013 study shows wait times for new patient appointments with primary care physicians remain long in the Commonwealth, with the average time to see a family medicine physician at 39 days (down from 45 days in 2012) and the average wait time to see an internal medicine physician at 50 days (up from 44 days in 2012).

Of course looking at Massachusetts in a vacuum doesn’t tell us much. In 2009, Merritt-Hawkins conducted a study comparing the waiting times to see a specialist in Boston after its health law and compared the results to other major cities in the United States. It found –

City

Average Wait in Days

Boston, MA

49.6

Philadelphia, PA

27.0

Los Angeles, CA

24.2

Houston, TX

23.4

Minneapolis, MN

19.8

New York, NY

19.2

Denver, CO

15.4

Miami, FL

15.4

Seattle, WA

14.2

So people have to wait two to three times as long to see a specialist in Boston than in other urban centers.

This is even more astonishing when we consider that Massachusetts has far and away the greatest number of practicing physicians per capita as any other state, and it had one of the lowest rates of non-insurance of any state when its law was enacted. Fewer newly insured people and far more doctors to absorb them. No place in the country was better able to absorb increased demand, but still the waiting times are astronomical.

Consider ― When Massachusetts passed its health reforms, it had an uninsured rate of 9.4% and it had 4.53 physicians per 1,000 people. Compare this to the conditions in the states cited above –

State

Percent Uninsured

Number of Physicians per 1,000

PA

13%

3.26

CA

21%

2.52

TX

27%

2.11

MN

10%

2.90

NY

13%

3.57

CO

17%

2.53

FL

25%

2.46

WA

16%

2.76

Source: Kaiser Family Foundation State Data.

Many of these states have half the number of physicians per capita and two to three times the percent of uninsured ― and the experience in Massachusetts is supposed to comfort us about physician capacity? These states would more likely have waiting times double those in the Bay State.

Not to worry, say Gottleib and Emmanuel. We will get the docs to be more productive and supplement them with nurse practitioners ― problem solved! Except we are also facing a shortage of nurses, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, especially advanced practice nurses. More importantly, we also have a shortage of professors in nursing schools to train new nurse practitioners. So, the likelihood of replacing many physicians with nurse practitioners is exceedingly small.

Now, of course, this all assumes a world of Make Believe in which the ObamaCare website works well, nobody loses their coverage, and the uninsured sign up for wonderful new health plans with both affordable premiums and low out-of-pocket costs. That is the only way we will actually get 30 million newly insured people demanding physician services. I’m not holding my breath.

UPDATE:

Merritt Hawkins has just released the results of a new 2013 survey of physician capacity. The new survey confirms the results of previous surveys.

City

Average Wait in Days

# Physicians per 100,000 population

Boston, MA

46.4

450.1

Philadelphia, PA

20.6

322.4

Los Angeles, CA

12.2

253.9

Houston, TX

14.0

235.2

Minneapolis, MN

19.2

264.1

New York, NY

16.8

344.6

Denver, CO

23.6

271.9

Miami, FL

13.6

271.9

Seattle, WA

16.0

297.8

So, again, while Boston has far and away the highest concentrations of practicing physicians, it also has the longest waiting times to see one — at least double that of any other city.

TAGGED:physician shortage
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

holistic dental
Holistic Dentist Services Are Natural and Safe
Dental health Specialties
July 28, 2025
botox certification
Help Improve People’s Skin Health Via Botox Certification
Skin Specialties
July 22, 2025
Telemedicine Apps
Why Custom Telemedicine Apps Outperform Off‑the‑Shelf Solutions
Health
July 20, 2025
Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
Global Healthcare Policy & Law
July 17, 2025

You Might also Like

Five Fields In Healthcare That Are Quickly Growing

May 17, 2016
eHealthHospital AdministrationMedical EducationMedical InnovationsMobile HealthNewsSocial MediaTechnology

Dealing With Negative Feedback on Your Hospital Social Media

November 12, 2011

America Has A Health Care Paradox

June 17, 2012

Congress Has a Panel on Women’s Health and No Women Were Invited At the House Hearing – ”Default Topics” of Abortions and Birth Control Returned to the Floor

February 18, 2012
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?