The United States is going through a huge shortage of physicians, which is composing a very severe supply and demand problem in this country. Citizens living in rural areas should be able to receive the same amount of quality care as those living in urban areas. The shortage of physicians in rural America calls for immediate attention and change because the shortage is affecting the quality of patient care. The life expectancy of people living in these areas is declining due to treatable conditions like diabetes, cancer, heart disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Thankfully, these conditions can be managed with proper medical treatment. Many people living in rural America have poor access to medical care. Approximately twenty …show more content…
There are not enough physicians to service the needs of the entire population. Many physicians get into the more specialized fields. The issue is deepened in rural areas, where specialized physicians are not found within several hundred miles. This healthcare system need to figure out how to do more with less and stretch a limited amount of resources to work more efficiently. There are many programs that are created to recruit and retain physicians in rural communities. Physician shortages continue to threaten the healthcare delivery in rural areas. This area will be hit the hardest and will have to make the most change. The widespread scarcity of doctors in the under-served simple area is only going to escalate as the baby-boomer age physicians reach retirement age. Many community leaders have tried to persuade doctors to practice medicine in rustic areas. The new healthcare reform law addresses these problems. With incentives of ten percent bonus to physicians who treat Medicare patients within their areas and additional money for …show more content…
The rest of the doctors are in medical specialties which include obstetrics, gynecology, general surgery, and psychiatry. In the 1980’s managed care has arisen and policymakers became worried the United States was not training a sufficient amount of primary care doctors. Success was in the hands of these physicians. The physicians were told to act as the gatekeepers to keep to more costly specialized medicine. In 1986 Congress made the Council on Graduate Medical Education. Their purpose was to offer recommendations on workforce policies for the physicians. They also issued many reports that predicted by the year 2000 an shortage of physicians. Many people do not realize how bad this shortage problem really is. It affects the care needed for patients everyday. Without physicians patients could not get seen for moderate to severe care. This evidently puts their life in danger and can do more harm than good for other less severe
The Saskatchewan heath care system is made up of several provincial, regional and local organizations, which provide the people their basic right to reasonable health care (“Health Systems,” 2014). Not having enough health care providers seem to be a problem, which Canada as a whole has struggled with (“College of Family,” 2014). The shortages of medical providers have lead to major discrepancies in the level of patient care between major urban centers and rural areas (Howlett, 2013). In the case of Saskatchewan many communities are facing this challenge, not only rural areas but also the capital city of the province (“Saskatchewan ER,” 2013). Stats Canada has showed that the number of physicians is at a historic high, yet Saskatchewan still face shortages (Howlett, 2013).
The physician assistant is a team player in the medical world, working daily with surgeons, physicians, therapists, and many other health care professionals. Similar to the job description of physicians, PAs see patients, take medical histories, preform physical exams, make diagnoses, order and interpret tests, and develop treatment plans (Ludwig). A physician assistant, nowadays, may even perform procedures that were once performed exclusively by physicians. Because every PA must have a supervising physician who oversees their work, it is assumed by many that PAs are “assistants to doctors”, however, that is not the case because a vast majority of PAs work independently. The extent of supervision by a physician varies depending on location and branch of medicine. Although, a physician assistant may carry out much of the same roles as a physician would, the amount of schooling required to become a PA is nearly half as many as that of a physician. Physician assistant programs nationwide require an undergraduate degree in one of many sciences, such as biology, and certain
National Rural Health Alliance (2007). Yearbook and Annual Report 2006–2007 [Electronic version]. Retrieved April 09 from
The purpose of this paper is to illuminate and discuss healthcare vulnerabilities of the elderly rural population in Baker County, Florida and describe how the nursing profession can address these problems. Rural health has been a complex and multifaceted challenge for government and healthcare practitioners. The elderly who live alone in the county suffer from low socioeconomic status, low health literacy rates, declining cognitive and physical health and lack of healthcare facilities. The health status of this vulnerable group is impacted by rural culture and social values, healthcare policy and funding affecting rural healthcare facilities, distance and lack of transportation, and health literacy.
The number of doctors that present in the United States of America directly affects the communities that these doctors serve and plays a large role in how the country and its citizens approach health care. The United States experienced a physician surplus in the 1980s, and was affected in several ways after this. However, many experts today have said that there is currently a shortage of physicians in the United States, or, at the very least, that there will be a shortage in the near future. The nation-wide statuses of a physician surplus or shortage have many implications, some of which are quite detrimental to society. However, there are certain remedies that can be implemented in order to attempt to rectify the problems, or alleviate some of their symptoms.
Doctors play a major role in society today because doctors will use medicalization to gain power to their name or to their practices and more importantly their income. Another reason why medicalization is apparent in society has also to do with MCOs. MCOs are health insurance providers that restrain costs by monitoring closely the health services given to patients. MCOs either support or oppose medicalization, depending on which tactic best protects their interests (Weitz, 2012,
Despite the established health care facilities in the United States, most citizens do not have access to proper medical care. We must appreciate from the very onset that a healthy and strong nation must have a proper health care system. Such a health system should be available and affordable to all. The cost of health services is high. In fact, the ...
It is no secret that the current healthcare reform is a contentious matter that promises to transform the way Americans view an already complex healthcare system. The newly insured population is expected to increase by an estimated 32 million while facing an expected shortage of up to 44,000 primary care physicians within the next 12 years (Doherty, 2010). Amidst these already overwhelming challenges, healthcare systems are becoming increasingly scrutinized to identify ways to improve cost containment and patient access (Curits & Netten, 2007). “Growing awareness of the importance of health promotion and disease prevention, the increased complexity of community-based care, and the need to use scarce human healthcare resources, especially family physicians, far more efficiently and effectively, have resulted in increased emphasis on primary healthcare renewal.” (Bailey, Jones & Way, 2006, p. 381).
As medical assistants we are trained in both clinical and administrative duties, which is a unique skill, and sets us apart from other healthcare professionals. Administrative duties include tasks such as answering telephones, greeting patients, appointment scheduling, and arranging hospital admissions and laboratory services. Clinical duties include responsibilities such as taking medical histories, educating patients on any medical procedures, drawing blood, collecting specimens, and assisting the physician during exams. Because of the growing demand and extensive training of medical assistants, there is never a problem finding work in hospitals, clinics, or private doctors’ offices. (American Association of Medical Assistants, What is a Medical
In consequence, this will limit poor adults finding the proper treatment since many doctors do not accept Medicaid patients. High rates of uninsured populations were associated with lower primary care capacity (Ku et al., 2011). Thus, expanding insurance coverage can support more primary care practices in rural areas and can help equal the gap in primary care positions. The impact of not expanding affects APRN practice by limiting them to practice in areas where they are needed the most. This not only affects APRNs from practicing without a physician supervision but also limit those that need coverage for basic preventive measures to reduce non-paying visits to the emergency room. Ensuring access to care will be contingent upon the ability to attain progress from insurance coverage and primary
The assistant part in physician assistant is generally understated. Physician assistants’ responsibilities actually bear many tasks that would suggest a long work hours and practices. Many may work alongside a team of specialists to coordinate treatments for their patients or some may work independently supervised by a
According to Harry A. Sultz and Kristina M. Young, the authors of our textbook Health Care USA, medical care in the United States is a $2.5 Trillion industry (xvii). This industry is so large that “the U.S. health care system is the world’s eighth
support medical practice in rural/remote regions: what are the conditions for success? Implement Sci. 2006 Aug 24;1:18.
Nearly every American can agree that our current health care system needs reforms. Primarily do to the fact that 45.7 million Americans are without health insurance. That's approximately 16 percent of Americans who sometimes have to do without healthcare, or face crucial financial responsibility. The main issues are admission to healthcare, and the affordability of health care. Before 1920, doctors didn't know enough about diseases to really provide useful care to sick people. Therefore the...
Could you have imagined that a small town boy from rural Louisiana would grow up and see the world in the name of medicine? Seeing the world beyond my small town was all I thought of as a child. Pursuing family medicine physician originated from personal experiences first as a patient then to provider in the typical rural south. As a medical student, I completed my third and fourth year clinical rotations in rural and medically underserved settings in rural areas in Poland and Louisiana. Since then, I’ve discovered that primary care is so basic if the individual is healthy – yet crucial when diagnosis methods are used to treat complex medical concerns. Of all the disciplines of medicines I choose family medicine because it is the frontline