How the primary care shortage affects rural Idaho

It’s been well-publicized that nearly half of primary care doctors want to quit or cut-back in the next few years.

But how does that affect rural states like Idaho, which has the lowest density of doctors per capita?

Well, it’s not good. Idaho’s primary care doctors are aging, and “rank among the nation’s oldest.” It’s no surprise then, that patients would have to call “around 20 physicians before [they] found someone who was willing to take a new patient.”

Technology and drug innovations are also cited, as patients are living longer. But this means that physician resources are being strained, as they are asked to keep track of an increasing amount of health information from a growing Medicare population.

Related posts:

1. Op-ed: Shortage of primary care threatens health care system
2. The primary care shortage in Maryland
3. Primary care doctors face burnout, and how that affects health reform
4. Primary care shortage and physician recruiters
5. Interruptions when doctors see patients and how that affects care
6. How to fix the primary care shortage
7. Primary care shortage in context

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Tagged as: Medicare, patient, primary care