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Demand for Primary Care Docs Remains Strong

 |  By John Commins  
   September 30, 2013

The demand for primary care doctors is being fueled by health reform mandates as well as physician turnover, which has been on the rise over the past three years, a physician recruitment report finds.

Primary care doctors and mid-level staff continue to be in high demand with healthcare organizations preparing for coordinated care and the Affordable Care Act.

The Association for Staff Physician Recruiters' 2013 In-House Physician Recruitment Benchmarking Report finds that nearly 70% of responding organizations searched for a family medicine physician in 2012. Other top searches for physicians included hospitalists, internists, pediatricians and emergency medicine. Advanced practice providers made up more than 17% of all searches. Approximately 38% of nurse practitioner searches and 43% of physician assistant searches were for primary care.

ASPR Executive Director Jennifer Metivier says the report includes metrics on nearly 5,000 physician and advanced practice provider searches conducted in 2012 by in-house recruiters employed by healthcare organizations across the country.

Nearly 33% of open positions remained unfilled at year's end, and recruiting proved to be even more difficult for non-urban areas. The study found a statistically significant difference in the 34.9% of open positions in healthcare organizations serving populations of 10,000 or less compared with those 29.5% open positions for organizations in populations of more than 500,000. Specialties that were least likely to be filled were dermatology, infectious disease, OB/GYN subspecialties, endocrinology/metabolism and neurology.

Approximately 63% of the reported searches were for hospital or integrated delivery systems, while 13% were for physician-owned practices. 

The study found that physician turnover has been on the rise over the past three years; from 5.6% in 2010, to 6.3% in 2011, to 7.2% in 2012. "This trend is not surprising," Metivier said. "With the improvement in the economy and the housing market, we're seeing more physicians being able to relocate or retire, resulting in increased turnover."

The ASPR findings are consistent with those of other physician recruiters. In August Merritt Hawkins noted in its annual report that family physicians topped the list of the 20 most sought-after specialties for seven straight years.

Merritt Hawkins said the demand for primary care doctors is being fueled by health reform mandates that will shift healthcare delivery away from fee-for-service and toward quality outcomes, wellness, and population health.

John Commins is a content specialist and online news editor for HealthLeaders, a Simplify Compliance brand.

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