Health News
Kentucky's persistent physician shortage is hardly new. Almost a century ago, the Frontier Nursing Service came to Hyden on the presumption that doctors wouldn't. A report from the Health Resources and Services Administration in 2005 found that 81 of 120 of the commonwealth's counties were officially health professional shortage areas. Now comes news that areas in the United States with growing and dense urban populations are feeling the considerable pinch of also not having enough doctors to provide care.
New York Times reporters Annie Lowrey and Robert Pear report that with the expansion of insurance coverage and aging baby boomers driving up demand, we shouldn't expect the shortage to get better anywhere before it gets worse everywhere. (NYT chart)
"The Association of American Medical Colleges estimates that in 2015 the country will have 62,900 fewer doctors than needed. That number will more than double by 2025," report Lowrey and Pear. "Even without the health care law, the shortfall of doctors in 2025 would still exceed 100,000." In addition, Medicare officials predict their enrollment will surge to 73.2 million in 2025, up 44 percent from 50.7 million this year because of the baby boomer demographic hitting their golden years. ?Older Americans require significantly more health care,? said Dr. Darrell G. Kirch, the president of the Association of American Medical Colleges. ?Older individuals are more likely to have multiple chronic conditions, requiring more intensive, coordinated care.?
Medical school enrollment is increasing, but not as fast as the population. The number of training positions for medical school graduates is lagging. Younger doctors are on average working fewer hours than their predecessors. And about a third of the country?s doctors are 55 or older, and nearing retirement. (Read more)
- Doctors Of Osteopathy Are An Increasing Answer To The Doctor Shortage, As More Osteopathic Medical Schools Open
Doctors of osteopathy could be part of the solution to Kentucky's well-documented primary care doctor shortage, Laurel Black reports for The Paducah Sun. "The American Association of Medical Colleges predicts that a growing population of aging...
- Family Physicians Group Objects To Cuts To Primary-care Physician Training Programs; Cites Doctor Shortage, Which Is Worse In Ky.
Facing an already-existing shortage of primary care in the country and state, the American Academy of Family Physicians sent a letter to U.S. Rep. Harold Rogers, R-Ky., chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, saying the committee's 2014...
- 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...
- 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...
Health News
New health law and aging baby boomers' anticipated strain on the system is about to make chronic doctor shortage worse
New York Times reporters Annie Lowrey and Robert Pear report that with the expansion of insurance coverage and aging baby boomers driving up demand, we shouldn't expect the shortage to get better anywhere before it gets worse everywhere. (NYT chart)
"The Association of American Medical Colleges estimates that in 2015 the country will have 62,900 fewer doctors than needed. That number will more than double by 2025," report Lowrey and Pear. "Even without the health care law, the shortfall of doctors in 2025 would still exceed 100,000." In addition, Medicare officials predict their enrollment will surge to 73.2 million in 2025, up 44 percent from 50.7 million this year because of the baby boomer demographic hitting their golden years. ?Older Americans require significantly more health care,? said Dr. Darrell G. Kirch, the president of the Association of American Medical Colleges. ?Older individuals are more likely to have multiple chronic conditions, requiring more intensive, coordinated care.?
Medical school enrollment is increasing, but not as fast as the population. The number of training positions for medical school graduates is lagging. Younger doctors are on average working fewer hours than their predecessors. And about a third of the country?s doctors are 55 or older, and nearing retirement. (Read more)
- Doctors Of Osteopathy Are An Increasing Answer To The Doctor Shortage, As More Osteopathic Medical Schools Open
Doctors of osteopathy could be part of the solution to Kentucky's well-documented primary care doctor shortage, Laurel Black reports for The Paducah Sun. "The American Association of Medical Colleges predicts that a growing population of aging...
- Family Physicians Group Objects To Cuts To Primary-care Physician Training Programs; Cites Doctor Shortage, Which Is Worse In Ky.
Facing an already-existing shortage of primary care in the country and state, the American Academy of Family Physicians sent a letter to U.S. Rep. Harold Rogers, R-Ky., chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, saying the committee's 2014...
- 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...
- 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...