Posted on 05/22/2006 5:53:19 PM PDT by Tassadar
WASHINGTON - The federal government predicted Monday that the supply of doctors who specialize in treating critically ill patients probably won't keep up with the demand of the country's aging population.
That's important, some groups say, because more doctors with such expertise could help save lives and money.
Critical care doctors, or intensivists, make up an evolving specialty, and one of the newest specialties to be certified under the American Board of Medical Specialties. About 2,000 such doctors specialize in treating patients in the nation's intensive care units.
In 2003, Congress asked the Health Resources and Services Administration to analyze whether the country would have enough critical care doctors. The agency projected two demand scenarios. Under the lowest projection, the expected supply of 2,800 critical care doctors in 2020 would meet demand.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Guess what? There will be no critical care specialists to care for the elderly.
Year after year Medicare (insurance for the elderly) reimbursement keeps dropping like a stone. Expenses keep skyrocketing, especially lawyer extortion, oops I meant malpractice insurance.
Economics 101 predicts financial extinction of any doctor caring for the elderly in 10 years. Nice job, Congress!
Back in the 90's, I remember something about Clinton cutting the number of interns they would support as they graduated at hospitals. I think it was on Rush's show, and he predicted that the numbers of doctors would fall.
Which is why there is a "shortage". Young docs see the economic prospects of the specialty too
10 years? Try to find a decent specialist willing to see a Medicare patient today!
I hate to say that I agree with the thrust of the article but I so and think it is much worse than portrayed. The problem is going to be a lack in many medical specialities, especially primary care. When I started practice most of us planned to work throughout most of our lives. This has changed and AMA data show Docs are retiring earlier than previously and that many are entering administrative jobs. In addition, the AMA has demonstrated female doctors work output is 75% of their male colleagues. For the feminists that read this, I am not disparaging women - I am simply stating a fact which has many causes, not the least being that women are the folks who have babies. Folks should draw on their own experiences! How easy is it to find a Doc?
Females docs simply are not the workaholics that male docs are. And 50% of all med school grads are now female, the number growing rapidly, as the males flee. I mean who in their right mind would put up with the abuse you get as a doctor these days?
Oh and the "solution" in the complete article above? Read it: Exploited immigrant MDs stolen from THE THIRD WORLD!
You guys think it's bad now...just wait. Primary care in America is collapsing. I'm in medical school now, and I see who is going into primary care and general surgery these days. It used to be the top students in the class; now, it's the bottom of the class-affirmative action babies, legacy admits, "how in the hell did they get into medical school" students. Why? These specialties have long hours, relatively low pay, and lawsuit-happy patients. All of the best students are going into specialties like dermatology, plastic surgery, opthalmology, anasthesia. Get your surgeries now. The age of the general surgeons/primary docs being the best in the hospital is coming to an end.
We have shortages in every specialty. We have shortages of medical technicians as well. But since the government pretty much lets the industry decide how many people get to go into the health care profession, there will be no solution, and it will only get worse.
Some female docs marry other docs, and either take time off for family or quit entirely. Female docs also gravitate to the "cleaner" specialties when they specialize at all (radiology is a draw for the gals).
However, I do not think that the critical lack is in primary care. PAs and NPs take up a lot of that--what we're going to die for are trauma surgeons, general surgeons, and specialist surgeons. Docs are avoiding these specialties in large part because of the ER--they are required to take call, it's a big liability exposure, and they are not compensated (usually, not at all).
Teach your children to drive defensively.
It's expensive to educate any health professional. You need a lot more than classrooms and textbooks--the infrastructure of a teaching institution is more like NASA than it is like Yale Law School. That's why we're importing so many from the Middle East. Though, for some reason, they are not often surgeons...
It's not the expense that is the only problem. There are vast numbers of applicants who are not admitted to medical schools simply because they limit the number of spaces. If we had a policy that allowed every qualified applicant to be admitted to medical school, but told them they'd have to pay for it themselves, then the problem would be solved.
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