Report details reasons for Arizona physician shortage

A new study on Arizona's doctors by the Goldwater Institute concludes that the doctor shortfall is caused by "misguided" federal policies that need changing.

By Jay Greene, AMNews staff. Dec. 10, 2001.

Fewer doctors have been attracted to Arizona in the past decade primarily due to federal policies on emergency care, health insurance and immigration, says a study from the Goldwater Institute, a Phoenix-based conservative public policy group.

Licensing data from the Arizona Board of Medical Examiners show that the state had 185 patient-care physicians per 100,000 population in 2000, a 6.6% decline compared with 198 in 1990, said Jeffrey Singer, MD, a study co-author. The national average was 238 in 1990 and 228 in 1999, a 4.2% decline, according to the AMA Physician Masterfile.

"The last few years physicians here have noticed that a shortage is developing," said Dr. Singer, a general surgeon who is on the board of the Goldwater Institute. "My office looks like a pediatrician's. We double and triple book. Sometimes I get patients referred to me with problems requiring surgery that should have been done two months ago."

Arizona isn't the only state where there appears to be shortages. State medical associations have voiced concern about recruiting and retaining doctors in Michigan, Ohio, Massachusetts, West Virginia, Mississippi, Washington, Oregon and California. Some specialty societies also have predicted shortages of anesthesiologists, gerontologists, cardiologists, pulmonologists, urologists, oncologists, gastroenterologists, orthopedic and general surgeons, hematologists and a variety of intensive care physicians.

"This report substantiates what we have been hearing about anecdotally [for about three years]," said Chic Older, executive vice president with the Arizona Medical Assn. Older said a combination of large numbers of undocumented immigrant workers, low reimbursement rates, an elderly population and a high percentage of uninsured residents has created a crisis in Arizona. [...]