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By 2036, the U.S. will be short some 86,000 physicians, according to a March announcement by the Association of American Medical Colleges. Demographics is the culprit, according to some physicians: even as the general population gets older, spurring demand for medical services, an increasing number of doctors are at or near retirement age. But Garden State hospitals are upping their game to attract and retain the next generation of practitioners.
“There is a mismatch between supply and demand,” according to RWJBarnabas Health Executive Vice President, Chief Medical and Quality Officer Dr. Andy Anderson. “On the supply side, there are too few students graduating from physician programs, and too many doctors nearing or at retirement age. At the same time, we’ve got an aging population that needs more health care support.”
Anderson says he’s concerned that shortages, especially in cardiac and other specialties, “could lead to longer wait times for patients, and could potentially impair outcomes.”
Anderson
To offset that, “at RWJBarnabas Health, we lead with quality and safety, organizing around teams of providers with advanced skills and experience to ensure we can deliver the highest quality of care to patients,” he said. “We also have a pipeline of new physicians, thanks to partnerships with Rutgers medical schools – where physicians receive training in our system – and we offer competitive compensation that attracts a diverse group of people.”
Other health care systems are aware of the physician shortage.
Earlier this year, the advanced heart failure team at Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Camden successfully performed the health system’s first left ventricular assist device implantation. “LVADs are intended to help maintain heart function for people who have reached end-stage heart failure,” according to a July 1 Virtua announcement. But as the supply of cardiac care and other doctors shrinks, will patients still be able to get care like this?
Weiner
The well-documented aging of the U.S. population presents a twin set of challenges, according to Dr. Sam Weiner, a family medicine physician with Virtua Health. “More people in the U.S. are living longer – into their 80s, 90s and beyond – and they often need more health care resources,” he observed. “But at the same time, physicians are aging. North of 40% of doctors are 55 or older, so many will be retiring in the next 10 years or so.”
Multifaceted challenge
The issues are compounded by a shortage of incoming physicians, added Weiner, who also serves as a Virtua vice president and the chief medical officer of Virtua Medical Group. “Students are well aware of the financial and time investments required to be a doctor, and that puts a drag on the number of people entering medical school,” he said. “First, there’s four years of undergraduate schooling, then four years of medical school, and then three years of residency. So, at the bare minimum, you won’t graduate until at least your late 20s; and you’ll come out with hundreds of thousands of dollars in educational debt. So there’s some resistance, especially among younger people.”
But the news is not all bad. “There are some indications that the [physician] shortage is not as bad as previously predicted,” said Weiner. “And the federal government seems to be trying to address the financial challenges by introducing legislation to fund about 14,000 residency positions. But there’s still a lot to be done, especially for underserved areas.”
Virtua has already taken steps to address the shortage, he added.
“About five years ago, Virtua acquired Lourdes Health System, which included locations in Camden and elsewhere,” recalled Weiner.
“This expanded our presence geographically and in practice, with tertiary care such as advanced heart surgery and organ transplantation. Beyond giving Virtua the ability to reach more patients, it elevated our stature with graduating physicians, since it enabled them to gain exposure to the latest technology and procedures.”
The process began in June 2018, when the boards of Virtua and Pennsylvania-based Maxis Health System – the then-parent company of Lourdes and a subsidiary of Trinity Health – signed a definitive agreement to move forward with the acquisition.
In June 2019 – following review by state and federal agencies – the state attorney general, in consultation with the Department of Health, issued its recommendation in favor of the transaction to Superior Court Judge Paula Dow, who subsequently approved the acquisition.
Virtua has also established a “school-to-hospital pipeline,” thanks to an academic affiliation with Rowan University.
Together, the institutions established the Virtua Health College of Medicine & Life Sciences, which includes the Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine. “The partnership (established in 2022) means that medical students in South Jersey can study here, train here, serve fellowships here and then work here and enjoy a career in South Jersey,” Weiner said, noting that Virtua also has a healthy balance sheet, “which helps us to attract and retain health care professionals, since they know we’re a stable institution.”
Virtua Health is taking additional steps to attract and retain cardiologists and other physicians, according to Weiner. “On the financial side, we offer loan forgiveness if physicians stay with us for a certain period of time,” he explained. “We have also taken steps to address work-life balance issues, such as the option to work flexible hours, and expanding our telemedicine programs, so doctors can occasionally work from their home.”
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Publish date : 2024-08-25 12:59:00
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