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Primary Care Physician

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HCA-240 February 1, 2014 Vernon Thacker The Primary Care Physician Dilemma Today, the United States is facing a shortage of about 16,000 primary care physicians and this number will continue to grow by 2025 (Amirault, 2014). Primary care physicians (PCPs) are the doctors who focus on overall health and offer the treatments and preventive screenings that save lives. A physician shortage is a situation in which there are not enough providers to treat all patients in need of medical care. The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) has long pointed out that the shortage of primary care physicians will be a major setback for the American healthcare system advancing (Amirault, 2014). The shortage of primary care providers presents …show more content…

Even though the demand for primary care physicians is increasing, only about twenty percent of medical residents go into primary care (Amirault, 2014). In addition to the challenges of the primary care physician shortage, the shortage will also have a great impact on health care organizations from a business perspective. The shortage will have a great effect because physicians are revenue makers for healthcare organizations. The care primary care physicians provide translates into billable services that make up the organization’s income. It is reported that the average physician generates approximately $1.4 million in income for a healthcare organization (Amirault, 2014). Therefore, organizations operating with less primary care physicians could experience significant revenue loss. For example, if a health care organization is short a single primary care physician it could mean longer appointment waiting times for patients. This could result in patients choosing a different organization for their medical care and the health care organization will lose money. The organization will be affected in other ways as well because fewer primary care physicians mean lower patient satisfaction and quality of care. From a business perspective, the shortage of primary care physicians will

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