More Doctors Needed

Survey finds Massachusetts physicians in limited supply.
The AP (10/20) reports, "Massachusetts has the highest percentage of insured residents of any state, but access to medical care, especially to primary care doctors and a wide number of specialists, continues to be tight." According to a new survey, "more than half of family primary care practices said they were not accepting new patients this year, the highest in four years." In addition, "ten of 18 specialties, including emergency medicine, general surgery, orthopedics, and psychiatry, have been found in short supply. That's three more than last year, the study found."
The Boston Globe (10/20) "White Coat Notes" blog reports, "The Massachusetts Medical Society, which has been polling doctors, hospital executives, and medical educators for nine years, reports that primary care doctors are in short supply for the fifth year in a row, citing pressure from the state's 2006 law mandating near-universal insurance coverage."
The Boston Herald (10/20, Fitzgerald) reports, "While hundreds of thousands of Bay State residents are desperately looking for jobs due to the Great Recession, area hospitals are facing the exact opposite problem: they can't find enough doctors to hire." The "most acute need is for primary-care physicians who practice family or internal medicine. The study called the shortages in those two key areas 'critical.'" MedPage Today (10/20) also reports the story.