At least my job is secure.
Stanford’s Spyros Andreopoulos writes an op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle chronicling the primary care shortage. Nothing new for regular readers here, just this tidbit mentioning that “Obama’s health plan will increase the workload of existing primary care physicians by 29 percent between now and the next 15 years.”
For doctors already seeing 30 patients a day, that means an additional 9 office visits daily. Not the type of statistic that will lure medical students to generalist practice.
Related posts:
- How the primary care doctor shortage threatens Obama’s health reform plan
- Will the Baucus health plan save primary care?
- Why primary care matters
- Medical students avoiding primary care, is it more than money?
- Medical students want to become primary care doctors, until reality hits
- How President Obama can fix health care immediately
- Will a 10 percent bonus for primary care be enough?
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{ 2 comments }
By my back-of-the-envelope calculations, primary care workload over the next 15 years will increase only 28.34%, not 29%.
Let’s try to be more specific. We’re only predicting out to 15 years.
-Steve
Perhaps Obama’s health care strategy will be to shift the focus of the US medical profession from high tech sickness care to basic health care with and emphasis on health.
Instead of the current system that promotes sickness because the rewards for treating sickness are far higher than seeking to promote health, the incentives will reward those who are able to prevent sickness.
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