Primary Care Doctors Frustrated; Some Retiring Early

BOSTON—A survey released Nov. 18 by The Physicians’ Foundation outlines widespread frustration and concern among primary care physicians nationwide, which could lead to a dramatic decrease in practicing doctors in the near future.

The survey examined the causes behind the doctors’ dissatisfaction, the state of their practices and the future of care. The resulting findings reveal the possibility of significantly decreased access for Americans in the years ahead, as many doctors are forced to reduce the number of patients they see or quit the practice of medicine outright.

Seventy-eight percent of physicians believe there is an existing shortage of U.S. primary care doctors. Nearly 49 percent—or more than 150,000 practicing doctors—say they plan to reduce the number of patients they see or stop practicing entirely over the next three years.

“Going into this project we generally knew about the shortage of physicians; what we didn’t know is how much worse it could get over the next few years,” Lou Goodman, PhD, president of The Physicians’ Foundation, said. “The bottom line is that the person you’ve known as your family doctor could be getting ready to disappear and there might not be a replacement.”