Too Many Doctors in the House
According to a recent editorial in The New York Times by David C. Goodman, Professor of Pediatrics and Family Medicine, at Dartmouth Medical School, increasing the number of practicing physicians does not necessarily lead to better health care or improvement of patient satisfaction. While some experts in the field, such as the Association of American Medical Colleges recommend that increasing the number of doctors, in large part to keep up with the growing number of elderly patients, is a viable method of improving healthcare, Professor Goodman asserts that training more doctors instead of making better use of the ones already practicing, may make matters worse.
Many studies, including those by the Medicare Current Beneficiary (“MCB”) Survey, have shown that quality of care does not rise along with the number of doctors. According to the MCB Survey, which asks some 12,000 elderly Americans about their health care three times a year, residents of regions with relatively large number of doctors are no more satisfied with their care than elderly who live in places with fewer doctors. Select hospital studies also reveal that while the doctor-patient ratio varies widely from place to place, more doctors does not always mean better care. According to Goodman, one explanation may be that when more doctors are around, patients spend more time in hospitals, and hospitals are risky places.
A possible solution is to more effectively use available resources to improving efforts to prevent illness and manage chronic ailments like diabetes and heart disease, as well as, better coordination of care.