A special report on "The State of Family Medicine" in the current issue of AFP's sister publication, Family Practice Management, reviews data from 2011 Residency Match and American Academy of Family Physicians' member surveys to arrive at a mixed conclusion about the current status of the specialty:
On the one hand, family medicine has its challenges, including administrative hassles, a lack of support in the health care system, and threats to its comprehensiveness and scope of practice. On the other hand, family medicine has a lot going for it, including recent efforts to create primary care incentives, incomes well above the national average, and solid evidence of its value to the health care system.
Although the glass may appear to be either half-full or half-empty for today's family physicians, depending on one's perspective, there is a widespread consensus that there aren't nearly enough of us to handle the projected millions of new patients who will be seeking primary care as the result of health reform. An article published in last week's Washington Post quoted AAFP President Glen Stream, MD and Robert Graham Center for Policy Studies in Family Medicine and Primary Care director Robert Phillips, MD, MSPH on the urgent need to address the economic realities that drive many students away from careers in family medicine and primary care.
Since 2000, AFP has published a series of One-Pagers produced by the Graham Center that examine broad historical trends in the scope and practice of family medicine, the impact of policy changes on the primary care workforce, and the often underestimated benefits that primary care physicians bring to the U.S. health system. Collectively, they are an invaluable resource for illustrating the current "state of family medicine." The full text of each of these One-Pagers is available online without access restrictions from the date of publication.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I agree with all the sentiments, but this pretty much the same refrain that we have been hearing since I started medical school in the 1990s. When are things going to change? The only things we have seen that improve incomes have such onerous reporting requirements and silly "quality" measures as to be more insult than incentive. The AAFP seems pretty feckless in bringing about a true improvement in the lot of FPs, which is what we need to attract more residents. They are still fighting for a fix to the SGR! The only viable option for primary care to improve working conditions and pay is to convert to "concierge care," something I can't do and still face myself in the mirror every morning. Maybe the fix for me is just to remove the mirror in my bathroom.
ReplyDeleteNow that I have been involved in converting my 5 partner group to the "medical home" I can't get over how we have slowly allowed the insurance companies to be totally controlling us. They have us reviewing thousands of pages of mostly useless canned notes from consultants, deny our use of medications, deny diagnostic testing. They have us more concerned about what is in our EMR notes to satisfy all these worthless "quality" measures and support our billing codes used than attending to our patients! I have been doing this for 27 years and can't believe how much control I have given to the insurers. I now have pharmacists suggesting treatments, denying treatments, where will it go. I can't imagine a medical student looking forward to the new medical home the way it is going. Even the NP's who are the FP's of the future will tire of all this useless paperwork. It is time to refuse all of this insurance company control we have sold our souls to and trust us to do a good job and care for our patients as we always have!
Delete