Hospitals and health systems in Central New York and across Upstate are facing a shortage of doctors, especially primary care physicians, according to a new report from the Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS). In the 2013 HANYS Physician Advocacy Survey, based on responses from health-care facilities across the state, excluding New York City, […]
Hospitals and health systems in Central New York and across Upstate are facing a shortage of doctors, especially primary care physicians, according to a new report from the Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS).
In the 2013 HANYS Physician Advocacy Survey, based on responses from health-care facilities across the state, excluding New York City, respondents reported a need for more than 1,000 physicians, of which 266 are primary care physicians.
From September 2012 to September 2013, the survey found that statewide, a total of 4,027 new doctors joined medical staffs while 4,093 physicians left, resulting in a net loss of 66 physicians.
In Central New York, 163 more physicians retired or moved than began practicing here during the survey time period. This follows the loss of 109 physicians the region experienced in the previous year.
While Central New York had the highest net loss of physicians in the state, the region isn’t alone in this decline. The Buffalo area lost 123 doctors, while the Rochester region lost 54, according to the report.
Statewide, 67 percent of respondents said that doctors are leaving their communities because of retirement. The difficulty to retain and recruit doctors to the region is another factor attributed to the shortage.
“Physician recruitment is an ongoing challenge,” Adam Ullman, director of physician support services at Mohawk Valley Health System (MVHS), says in an email.
“Changes in the health-care system, reimbursement rates, and declining numbers of graduating physicians in certain specialties add to a nationwide shortage in some specialties.”
Due to the shortage, hospitals have had to reduce or eliminate services or transfer patients to other facilities when emergency rooms are not covered by certain specialists, HANYS says. In Central New York, 20 percent of hospital respondents reported having to eliminate or reduce services, and 52 percent indicated that their emergency rooms were not covered for certain specialties.
Rural New York hospitals were nearly three times more likely to reduce or eliminate services, and twice as likely not to have their emergency rooms covered.
A recent brief by the SUNY Center for Health Workforce Studies also found that a large portion of physicians in rural counties plan to retire or reduce patient-care hours in the next 12 months than physicians in urban counties. The brief indicated that Central New York has the highest percentage of physicians planning to retire, while the Mohawk Valley had the highest percentage of doctors planning to reduce patient-care hours.
When Faxton St. Luke Healthcare and St. Elizabeth Medical Center formed MVHS earlier this year, Ullman says it was a positive step in attracting physicians.
“Recruiting as a stronger, larger health-care organization rather than two smaller hospitals is a plus for our recruitment efforts,” says Ullman. Some specialty areas MVHS is currently recruiting for are primary care, neurosurgery, orthopedics, and its Family Medicine Residency program.
“MVHS is fortunate that there are numerous academic institutions within a small radius for most physician specialties, as well as nurse practitioner and physician assistant programs, that give us exposure to providers entering the workforce,” says Ullman.
To address the shortage, HANYS advocates for increased funding for Doctors Across New York (or DANY), a state-funded initiative that helps hospitals and health systems recruit needed physicians. HANYS suggests bringing at least 250 new physicians to the under-served areas every year. Additionally, HANYS recommends expanded funding for the Primary Care Services Corps to incentivize nurse practitioners and physician assistants to practice in the region in exchange for loan repayment, as well as to make changes to eliminate the competitive procurement process of the program.
HANYS also pushes for the use of telehealth services, especially in rural communities where some specialties are hard to find.
Contact Collins at ncollins@cnybj.com