Critical Shortage of Preventive Medicine Physician Workforce

Healthful Vitality | 08/18/2021 | By NP Team | Critical Shortage of Preventive Medicine Physician Workforce

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a problem that was looming around for a long time became apparent. There is a shortage of preventive medicine physician workforce in the US. As the pandemic began, the number of physicians in the US for 10,000 people was lower than in several other countries. It continues to be less and is a factor that affects the lives of several thousand people.

As the US faced a shortage of physicians and doctors in the first half of 2020, the hospitals started taking in fourth-year medical students to perform the roles of doctors. The hospitals also recruited immigrant physicians to overcome the crisis. Even then, the authorities failed to find enough doctors to offer care.

The Critical Shortage of Preventive Medicine Physician Workforce

Here, we will look into the reasons for this shortage and possible measures that the government could take.

What is the Need for Preventive Medicine Workforce?

Preventive medicine, in a nutshell, refers to the specialist care offered to prevent specific diseases, disabilities, and deaths. Through this, the aim is to promote the health and well-being of the people. The preventive medicine workforce includes licensed medical doctors who have a wide range of expertise. They employ their skills to enhance health and promote disease prevention.

Currently, there are three divisions or categories of the preventive medicine workforce.

• First, we have public health and general preventive medicine. Here, the focus is on offering primary health care and support to patients.
• Second, we have occupational medicine, which relates to improving the health of employees in both small and large scale organizations.
• Third, we have aerospace medicine, where the doctors offer medical help to crew members and passengers.

When it comes to the preventive medicine physician workforce, their focus is on offering public health care. These specialized doctors can practice both clinically and non-clinically.

During the onset of the pandemic, there has been a shortage of physician workforce in the US. There are different reasons why there is a shortage of doctors. Here, we will look into some of them that have had a drastic impact in creating a shortage of doctors.

Closure of Medical Practices

As the pandemic began, there were a lot of uncertainties and misconceptions. Due to different reasons, including financial and others, many medical practices in the US shut down temporarily or permanently. It led to a shortage of preventive medical care and created a lack of accessibility.

Recently, there was a survey conducted with over 1337 respondents published in the Jama Network Open. As per the survey, 63% of the participants opted out of preventive medical care during the pandemic. The reason stated by these respondents was the closure of medical practices.

Akin to that, the sudden shift to telehealth practices also had an impact. Due to this, many people faced difficulties in accessing medical care. Apart from the shut down of medical centers by the government and other non-profit organizations, many private practices also closed down voluntarily. It was a means of reducing viral transmission among patients. It is yet another factor that led to a shortage of the medical workforce.

The Unchanged Budget for Hiring Residents

Countless discussions are focusing on the need to bring in new doctors to overcome the gap. However, not many of them are aware of the fact that Congress has a drastic role to play in it. The Centre for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) allocates an amount to every hospital annually. It is for hiring residents for their healthcare practice. Even though it is the CMS that furnishes the money, the federal government decides the amount.

But, the complexity arises when we look into the fact that the government updated the budget for recruiting residents in 1997. Since then, there have been no changes in the funds provided to hire a new workforce. Through this, it becomes evident why there is a shortage of preventive medicine in the US.

There have been multiple bills raised to make changes to this budget. However, the government has not made any alterations to it even after the issues happening due to the pandemic. Under these circumstances, the Association of American Medical Colleges projects a shortage of approximately 54,100 to 139,000 doctors by 2033.

Hence, the government has to take appropriate measures to reduce the shortage of doctors, especially in preventive medical care.

Financial Incentives and Concerns Related to It

Another factor that has led to the shortage of physicians in the US is the issues concerning financial rewards. Medical practitioners get paid for doing medical procedures. Whereas on the other hand, they are not receiving adequate payment for consulting or talking to patients.

Several professionals have been discussing the need for this change. However, there haven’t been any results as of now. Due to this factor, it becomes challenging for medical practitioners to offer primary care, especially in rural areas. Because of this issue, there continues to be a shortage of medical care providers in rural areas and for underprivileged communities.

Apart from these factors, medical practitioners are also facing challenges when it comes to loan repayment. Since they gain monetary benefit mainly via medical procedures, it impacts repaying of their medical school loans. It also acts as a consequence leading to the shortage of physicians.

(Also Read: The Secret to Surviving Hard, the Miserable Medical School)

How can the Government Improve the Preventive Medicine Physician Workforce?

From March to mid-July 2020, 29% of the US population opted out of preventive care due to different reasons. One of the causes was the closure of medical practices. Many practices shut down due to lack of physicians, uncertainties, financial constraints, and other factors. While analyzing these components, the US government needs to implement policies that would resolve these issues soon.

One of the ways would be increasing the budget for recruiting residents to raise the intake of doctors. Besides that, the government could take measures that would enhance the financial stability of the preventive medicine physician workforce. It can be by offering payment for medical care for doctors and also through loan forgiveness initiatives. Through this, the government could reduce the current shortage of physician workforce.