The U.S. is facing a critical lack of primary care physicians, and it’s likely the Affordable Care Act will worsen that shortage. Many worry there won’t be enough physicians to care for the estimated 30 million people set to gain insurance under the law in 2014. And it’s not just an issue of fewer doctors joining the ranks. While 20 percent of Americans live in rural areas, just 9 percent of physicians practice there. But some argue that the way primary care doctors practice is even more important than their numbers. This hour, the first of our new medical series, “Mind and Body,” Diane and her guests discuss the future of primary care medicine.
Guests
national president of the American Medical Student Association.
health policy correspondent for NPR and author of “Health Care Policy and Politics A-Z.”
Murdock Head professor of medicine and health policy, George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services.
partner, Premier Primary Care Physicians in Arlington, Virginia. She is also assistant professor of family medicine at the Georgetown University School of Medicine and an associate editor for the journal “American Family Physician.”
Podcast should be available later today.
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