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Study
predicts severe shortage of geriatric physicians in years of
greatest need
By 2025, the wait to see a
doctor could get a lot longer if the current number of
students training to be primary care physicians doesn't
increase soon, according to a new University of Missouri
study. Jack Colwill, professor emeritus of family and
community medicine in the MU School of Medicine, and his
research team found that the U.S. could face a shortage of
up to 44,000 family physicians and general internists in
less than 20 years, due to a skewed compensation system that
rewards specialists increasingly more than primary care
practitioners. The researchers are more optimistic about the
future supply of general pediatricians. Today, generalist
physicians are a third of the U.S. physician workforce and
are responsible for more than half of all patient visits at
doctors' offices. "Concern about the supply of generalists
is not new," said Colwill, who also is a member of the
National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine. "It has
been with us since the 1960s and was gradually improving.
However, during the past decade, the number of generalist
graduates has fallen by 22 percent and declines continue as
medical school graduates enter other specialties. At the
same time, the U.S. population is increasing by about one
percent each year, and the baby boomer generation will
significantly increase the number of Americans older than 65
by 2025. Typically, older adults seek care from generalists
nearly three times each year, double the rate of adults
younger than 65. Because of this, Colwill and his
researchers expect the number of doctor visits to increase
by 29 percent by 2025. At the same time, they project that
the supply of general internists and family physicians will
increase less than 5 percent.
Source: EurkeAlert
(17 June 2008)
Full story:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/uom-ucf061708.php
Quality
rating system for nursing homes
on the way
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) this week
announced plans to implement by the end of the year a
five-star rating system to help consumers make more informed
decisions when they select nursing homes, according to
Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report.
CMS will base the ratings, which will appear on the Medicare
Web site, on government inspection results, staffing data
and 19 quality measures. In addition, the ratings might
include information on whether nursing homes treat patients
with dementia or those on ventilators, according to KDHPR.
CMS officials said the agency will seek comments from the
nursing home industry and consumers to decide the specific
criteria for the ratings.
Acting CMS Administrator Kerry Weems said, "We know the
public is hungry for information," adding, "Transparent
information is an effective incentive for quality." Lower
ratings will likely put nursing homes "on the path to
improvement," Weems said. "I don't think we're going to see
many people who are very anxious to put a loved one in a
one-star home," he added.
To learn more visit
http://www.cms.hhs.gov.
Source: Retirement
Weekly – June 20, 2008 (Vol. 6, No. 25)
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