profession
Millions live in designated medical shortage areas
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Nov. 14, 2011
An estimated 66.8 million Americans live in areas that don't have enough primary care physicians or other primary care health professionals to meet their needs, according to the latest statistics from the Health Resources and Services Administration (link).
As of Oct. 19, there were 6,422 designated Primary Care Health Professional Shortage Areas nationwide. It would take an estimated 17,803 health professionals to meet needs in those areas, with a ratio of 2,000 patients for each primary care professional.
The designations take into account several factors, such as population, local medical facilities, physician-to-patient ratios, barriers to care and the availability of medical services in contiguous communities.
Other HRSA statistics show that 52.5 million people live in 4,677 designated shortage areas for dental care, and 95.3 million people live in 3,803 designated shortage areas for mental health care.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2011/11/14/prbf1114.htm.
