A Blog for Physician Recruiters

A recent article in The Sacramento Bee reported that Califronia is set to become the first state to impose timely access rules on HMOs and other healthcare providers. The proposed rules will require primary care physicians to see patients within 10 days for non-urgent problems. Specialists will have to see patients within 15 days of an appointment request, and patients needing urgent care must be seen within two days.

 Merritt Hawkins recently conducted its 2009 Physician Appointment Wait Time Survey. The survey of 1,162 medical offices tracked the average time needed to schedule a doctor appointment with physicians in cardiology, dermatology, obstetrics/gynecology, orthopedic surgery and family practice in 15 large metropolitan areas. Physician appointment wait times tracked in the survey varied from as little as one day up to one year.

 According to the findings of the survey, the average wait to see a doctor in many cities is higher than the number of days imposed by the timely access rules. This means the new rules could increase the need for both permanent and temporary physicians if states seek similar rules to what California is enacting this year.

Merritt Hawkins would like to know:

• What do you think about physician appointment wait times?
• Do you agree with the implementation of the new timely access rules in California?

We’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic. Submit your comments below and let others in the industry know what you think.

The complete results of the 2009 Survey of Physician Appointment Wait Times can be found here.

An article in the April issue of Hospitals & Health Networks, the magazine of the American Hospital Association, notes that some hospitals are using electronic medical records (EMRs) as a key selling point to physician candidates. The article cites Merritt Hawkins & Associates’ Senior Vice President of Business Development, Kurt Mosley, and describes how EMRs and other technologies can help physicians perform their jobs more effectively and also enhance their lifestyles. You can read the full article by clicking here.

We’d like to hear your thoughts regarding EMRs and physician recruitment. Are you using EMRs as part of your recruitment strategy? If so, do you feel that it has provided you with an edge over the competition? If you are not currently utilizing EMRs, do you plan to in the future? Please share your thoughts with us by posting your comments below.

Though it’s still early in his administration, it is obvious that President Obama is serious about extending access to healthcare to more Americans. The expansion of SCHIP and the billions of dollars in the stimulus package devoted to both Medicaid and COBRA make that clear.

What remains unclear is if the new administration or others in government have come to terms yet with how physician supply affects healthcare delivery. Real access to healthcare will not be achieved unless a way can be found to increase the number of physicians, particularly primary care physicians, who actually deliver care.

The good news is that the stimulus bill allots $500 million for physician and nurse education and job training. About $300 million of this will go to doubling the budget of the National Health Services Corps, which offers financial support to doctors in exchange for their agreement to practice in traditionally underserved rural and inner city areas. The bad news is that no new serious effort is being made to increase the number of residents being trained in the U.S., which is the only way to increase physician supply in absolute terms.

It is to be hoped that this issue will receive more attention as the debate over healthcare reform takes shape. If you have any comments on this topic or on the stimulus bill in general please feel free to express them here by submitting a comment below. 

Though it’s still early in his administration, it is obvious that President Obama is serious about extending access to healthcare to more Americans. The expansion of SCHIP and the billions of dollars in the stimulus package devoted to both Medicaid and COBRA make that clear.   

What remains unclear is if the new administration or others in government have come to terms yet with how physician supply affects healthcare delivery. Real access to healthcare will not be achieved unless a way can be found to increase the number of physicians, particularly primary care physicians, who actually deliver care.  

The good news is that the stimulus bill allots $500 million for physician and nurse education and job training. About $300 million of this will go to doubling the budget of the National Health Services Corps, which offers financial support to doctors in exchange for their agreement to practice in traditionally underserved rural and inner city areas. The bad news is that new serious effort is being made to increase the number of residents being trained in the , which is the only way to increase physician supply in absolute terms. 

It is to be hoped that this issue will receive more attention as the debate over healthcare reform takes shape. If you have any comments on this topic or on the stimulus bill in general please feel free to express them here by submitting a comment below.