Shortage of doctors is a genuine health care crisis

Opinion

Discussion

April 14, 2010

Enid News and Eagle

A lot is being written and reported about how the medical profession is going to have a tough time accommodating the new health care reform regulations coming its way.

A Wall Street Journal article recently stated there won’t be enough doctors to treat the millions of people who become insured under the new health care legislation. Also, add to that number nurses, technicians and other health care professionals that also will be required to take care of all these patients.

It is a crisis, and it’s one that has been coming for more than just the last few months. A number of factors are to blame here. First, traditionally, doctors have been advised to specialize in certain areas because they make more money that way. With the debt they pile up in medical school, physicians want to be paid well for their training. Primary care typically hasn’t paid as well.

A number of established physicians have been chased away from the profession because of rising insurance and liability costs. Those issues have been well documented, and there is a big political argument about tort reform, or setting boundaries on the kinds of medical malpractice lawsuits that can be brought against physicians.

What’s it going to take to get more people to want to become physicians in this trying economic time?

First, there has to be a real commitment to tort reform. This may have to come from the federal level, but it will be a hard-fought battle to rein in malpractice lawsuits. But, it has to be done.

Second, we see physician recruitment becoming something along the lines of athletic recruitment. Potential physicians need to be identified and given incentives to go into medicine, such as scholarships or grants, preferably funded by private sources.

Third, we see nurse practitioners becoming more of a valuable commodity. Twenty-eight states are considering expanding the authority of nurse practitioners, who have advanced degrees. Typically, they practice under the strict supervision of a doctor; however, with some more specified training, some regulations can be released on those professionals.

What we don’t want to see happen is government control over what kind of doctor goes into what kind of practice. We would strictly oppose the federal government specifying certain medical professionals have to practice a certain kind of medicine.

We’re sure many students considering medical school are uncertain about their prospects for the future. Yet, we know there is going to be a demand for qualified primary care physicians. All that we need now is some innovative thinking in how to lead future doctors in that direction.