Health News
- Doctor Shortage News: Residencies Are Filling The Pond With Primary Care Doctors, But U.s. And Ky. Need An Ocean Of Them
Despite a critical shortage of primary care in the country, only 25 percent of newly educated doctors go into this field, and even worse for the mostly-rural Kentucky, less than 5 percent go on to practice in rural areas, says a study by researchers at...
- Hopkinsville Paper Examines Doctor Shortage, Reasons For It
Albert Delaney waits for his wife Agnes in Hopkinsville. (Photo by Kentucky New Era's Tom Kane)Nick Tabor of the Kentucky New Era examines Christian County's doctor shortage, with the area averaging just one primary care physician for every 2,000...
- Online Training Could Help Rural Doctors Offer Better Mental Health Care
More than half of all U.S. mental health care takes place at the primary-care level, and that percentage is even higher in rural areas, where mental-health doctors are often hundreds of miles away, reports Newswise, a research-reporting service....
- Serious Shortage Of Primary-care Physicians Expected In Louisville
An aging population, a high number of doctors getting ready to retire, and medical students opting to specialize for better pay and hours are all factors contributing to an expected shortage in primary-care doctors in Louisville. "By 2020, Jefferson...
- Rural Folks Have More Chronic Conditions And Less Access To Health Care, And Kentucky Is One Of The More Rural States
Though rural Americans have more chronic health conditions than those who live in urban centers, they have poorer access to health care, a working paper released last month confirms. Health experts are pointing to technology, including telemedicine, to...
Health News
41 percent of the time, Americans go to specialists instead of primary-care doctors for basic health needs, study finds
More than 40 percent of the time, Americans are turning to higher-paid specialists instead of primary-care doctors to deal with their basic health needs, including colds and fever, a new study has found.
Researchers at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York looked at data from more than 20,000 doctor visits in 1999 and 2007 that included information about why the patient had come to the doctor?s office. ?Fifty-nine percent of those with primary care needs, the runny-nose group, were seen by a primary care doctor,? reports Sarah Kliff for The Washington Post. ?Forty-one percent sought out care at a specialist.?
Researchers included gynecologists and internal medicine physicians in the specialists group, though they tend to have heavy primary care loads. But even without those two specialties, 27 percent of primary care appointments happened in specialists? offices.
A 2010 study found primary care doctors earn a $69 hourly rate, compared to $92 per hour and $85 per hour that surgeons and ob-gyns earn, respectively. (Read more)
- Doctor Shortage News: Residencies Are Filling The Pond With Primary Care Doctors, But U.s. And Ky. Need An Ocean Of Them
Despite a critical shortage of primary care in the country, only 25 percent of newly educated doctors go into this field, and even worse for the mostly-rural Kentucky, less than 5 percent go on to practice in rural areas, says a study by researchers at...
- Hopkinsville Paper Examines Doctor Shortage, Reasons For It
Albert Delaney waits for his wife Agnes in Hopkinsville. (Photo by Kentucky New Era's Tom Kane)Nick Tabor of the Kentucky New Era examines Christian County's doctor shortage, with the area averaging just one primary care physician for every 2,000...
- Online Training Could Help Rural Doctors Offer Better Mental Health Care
More than half of all U.S. mental health care takes place at the primary-care level, and that percentage is even higher in rural areas, where mental-health doctors are often hundreds of miles away, reports Newswise, a research-reporting service....
- Serious Shortage Of Primary-care Physicians Expected In Louisville
An aging population, a high number of doctors getting ready to retire, and medical students opting to specialize for better pay and hours are all factors contributing to an expected shortage in primary-care doctors in Louisville. "By 2020, Jefferson...
- Rural Folks Have More Chronic Conditions And Less Access To Health Care, And Kentucky Is One Of The More Rural States
Though rural Americans have more chronic health conditions than those who live in urban centers, they have poorer access to health care, a working paper released last month confirms. Health experts are pointing to technology, including telemedicine, to...