By Christine Gannon
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – “The U.S., as opposed to all other higher-income countries in the world, has a specialty-dominated healthcare workforce,” said Dr. Eric Henley, Medical Director for North Country Healthcare Clinic. This is one of the reasons why the United States is in such desperate need of reform for the health care system.
“There is some good literature,” said Henley, “that says if you have the right amount of primary care [physicians], as a percentage of the total, it actually is better for costs, [it] lowers costs, and [provides] higher quality.”
Research done by several universities has shown that the changes that could occur with an increase in primary care physicians are substantial. Mortality rates could drop by as much as 10 percent – given an increase of one primary care physician for every 10,000 people. Costs incurred are decreased by one third with an increase in the availability of primary care; and social and economic inequalities are reduced.
Valuing primary care over specialty medicine would not be an easy switch for Americans to make. It would be “very counter-intuitive,” said Henley. “[Americans] usually tend to think that specialty is better.”
Many countries – Japan, most of northern Europe, and even middle-income Asian countries – have approximately 50 percent of their healthcare workforce in primary care.
The United States lags behind. In 2008, just over one third of the physicians working in the United States were in areas of primary care, according to data from the Association of American Medical Colleges.
In Flagstaff, the numbers are much the same. Slightly less than one third of the Flagstaff physicians are in primary care fields, as listed by the 2009 Medical Directory from the Arizona Medical Board.
Making the switch to focusing on primary care in Flagstaff could greatly increase the overall quality of life for residents. The costs of living in Flagstaff are high all around, but decreasing healthcare costs could make a big difference.
The healthcare reform, however, may not provide the answers to the shortage of primary care physicians. Massachusetts implemented a healthcare reform several years ago, but access to primary care has only gotten worse.
With the increase in insured people in Massachusetts, lower-income families who had previously avoided going to see a doctor are now flooding the system. According to an article published by National Public Radio, primary care offices in Massachusetts have a waiting list, some as large as 1,600 patients.
While Flagstaff would see results on a smaller scale, the issues would remain the same; and they would still be unresolved. Considerations should be made to ready the town for any reform that is coming, so that residents of Flagstaff do not suddenly receive less-than-adequate care once legislation is passed.
