There is a dramatic shortage of primary care physicians in rural Nebraska.
There is a dramatic shortage of primary care physicians in rural Nebraska. The University of Nebraska Medical Center recently conducted a study and found the number of primary care physicians much lower than previously reported by the American Medical Association. Dr. Jim Stimpson is the director of the Center for Health Policy at UNMC and says there are 11 rural counties that currently do not have a primary care physician.
Dr. Jim Stimpson, Director of UNMC Center for Health Policy; "work force in general."
Dr. Stimpson says their study did have one positive note and that is the ethnic diversity among primary care physicians increased seven percent in the past five years and the ration of women to men shifted over the past five years with an 11-percent higher share of the primary care physician workforce.
The University of Nebraska Medical Center says the need for physicians in rural areas is more severe than reported by the American Medical Association. Dr. Jim Stimpson is the director of the Center for Health Policy at UNMC and says the number of primary care physicians in Nebraska is 30% lower than what the AMA report shows. He says if we throw health care reform into the mix the number is even more alarming.
Stimpson; "already need."
Dr. Stimpson says there are eleven rural counties in the state that do not have a primary care physician. He adds what is more alarming is that the number of rural physicians older than 65 has grown by 78-percent in the past five years. The shortage will become more severe as these physicians retire.
Eleven of the 93 counties in Nebraska do not have a primary care physician. The University of Nebraska Medical Center recently conducted a study that shows the number of physicians is 30-percent lower than previously reported in a study by the American Medical Association and rural areas are the hardest hit. Dr. Jim Stimpson is the director of the Center for Health Policy at UNMC and says there are several things that can be done to recruit doctors to rural areas of the state.
Stimpson; "of their training."
Dr. Stimpson says another problem is the number of primary care physicians older than 65 has grown by 78-percent in the past five years. That will add to the overall shortage of doctors in the state.
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(courtesy of Nebraska Radio Network)
