Fewer and Fewer Rheumatologists Work Full-Time
Flash forward to 2018, and the problem has taken a dramatic turn for the worse. The Council on Graduate Medical Education (COGME) predicts 10 percent of the current physician workforce will be gone by 2020. (1) By 2030, demand is expected to exceed supply by 102 percent, (2) while 50 percent of current rheumatologists are expected to retire over the next 15 years. As many as 80 percent of the future retirees plan to reduce patient loads by 25 percent before leaving their practices by 2030. A study funded by the ACR concluded, “The current U.S. adult rheumatology workforce is in jeopardy of accelerated decline at a time when demands on the workforce face tremendous growth.” (2) Pediatric rheumatologists are particularly scarce: There are fewer than 300 in the country. “The projected workforce deficits are really huge. We would have to double the number of fellowship slots to fill the upcoming gap,” says Anne R. Bass, MD, an associate professor of clinical medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City and the chair of the ACR’s Rheumatology Training and Workforce Committee.
For Rheumatic Diseases Such as Rheumatoid Arthritis, Early Diagnosis and Treatment Is Crucial
All rheumatology experts agree that early diagnosis and aggressive early treatment are key to better patient outcomes. A significant rheumatologist shortage can delay or even prevent care, leading to a healthcare crisis. How did we get to this place? It’s a complicated web of supply, demand, and economics, says Dr. Bass.
Specialist Supply and Demand Issues in Arthritis Care
The baby boomer rheumatologists are largely male, and the younger doctors coming into the field are mostly female. Women tend to see fewer patients per week because they’re more apt to work part-time, and to spend more time with individual patients. So the volume of patients seen is lower.As baby boomers hit retirement age, there are more arthritis symptoms, and there’s more arthritis in general. The result: an increased demand for doctors.Seventeen percent of international medical students with a rheumatology specialty plan to leave the United States upon graduation. (1)Rheumatologists are geographically clustered in certain areas. Researchers found that 21 percent of adult rheumatologists were located in the Northeast in 2015, compared with only 3.9 percent in the Southwest in 2015. (2)
Economic Factors Behind the Lack of Specialists Who Treat Arthritis
Most medical students graduate with a huge amount of debt. But income for subspecialties such as rheumatology — in which there aren’t a lot of tests and procedures — is very low compared with procedure-heavy specialties, such as dermatology and gastroenterology.There’s a lack of funding to teaching hospitals for training rheumatology fellows. It costs around $160,000 per fellow for a two-year program. Medicare pays hospitals an extra amount that’s supposed to go to training programs, but the reality is that it only goes to train medical and some surgical residents; none of it goes to train subspecialties. Medical centers have to find their own funds.
Solving the Rheumatologist Puzzle, Serving People With Rheumatic Disease
If you have a rheumatic disease such as RA, don’t panic. The ACR is looking at the following solutions:
How to Find Appropriate Care for Arthritis and Other Rheumatic Diseases
If you need help finding a rheumatologist, take these steps:
title: “Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatment Crisis Why It S Hard To Find A Rheumatologist” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-30” author: “Ilene Caminero”
Fewer and Fewer Rheumatologists Work Full-Time
Flash forward to 2018, and the problem has taken a dramatic turn for the worse. The Council on Graduate Medical Education (COGME) predicts 10 percent of the current physician workforce will be gone by 2020. (1) By 2030, demand is expected to exceed supply by 102 percent, (2) while 50 percent of current rheumatologists are expected to retire over the next 15 years. As many as 80 percent of the future retirees plan to reduce patient loads by 25 percent before leaving their practices by 2030. A study funded by the ACR concluded, “The current U.S. adult rheumatology workforce is in jeopardy of accelerated decline at a time when demands on the workforce face tremendous growth.” (2) Pediatric rheumatologists are particularly scarce: There are fewer than 300 in the country. “The projected workforce deficits are really huge. We would have to double the number of fellowship slots to fill the upcoming gap,” says Anne R. Bass, MD, an associate professor of clinical medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City and the chair of the ACR’s Rheumatology Training and Workforce Committee.
For Rheumatic Diseases Such as Rheumatoid Arthritis, Early Diagnosis and Treatment Is Crucial
All rheumatology experts agree that early diagnosis and aggressive early treatment are key to better patient outcomes. A significant rheumatologist shortage can delay or even prevent care, leading to a healthcare crisis. How did we get to this place? It’s a complicated web of supply, demand, and economics, says Dr. Bass.
Specialist Supply and Demand Issues in Arthritis Care
The baby boomer rheumatologists are largely male, and the younger doctors coming into the field are mostly female. Women tend to see fewer patients per week because they’re more apt to work part-time, and to spend more time with individual patients. So the volume of patients seen is lower.As baby boomers hit retirement age, there are more arthritis symptoms, and there’s more arthritis in general. The result: an increased demand for doctors.Seventeen percent of international medical students with a rheumatology specialty plan to leave the United States upon graduation. (1)Rheumatologists are geographically clustered in certain areas. Researchers found that 21 percent of adult rheumatologists were located in the Northeast in 2015, compared with only 3.9 percent in the Southwest in 2015. (2)
Economic Factors Behind the Lack of Specialists Who Treat Arthritis
Most medical students graduate with a huge amount of debt. But income for subspecialties such as rheumatology — in which there aren’t a lot of tests and procedures — is very low compared with procedure-heavy specialties, such as dermatology and gastroenterology.There’s a lack of funding to teaching hospitals for training rheumatology fellows. It costs around $160,000 per fellow for a two-year program. Medicare pays hospitals an extra amount that’s supposed to go to training programs, but the reality is that it only goes to train medical and some surgical residents; none of it goes to train subspecialties. Medical centers have to find their own funds.
Solving the Rheumatologist Puzzle, Serving People With Rheumatic Disease
If you have a rheumatic disease such as RA, don’t panic. The ACR is looking at the following solutions:
How to Find Appropriate Care for Arthritis and Other Rheumatic Diseases
If you need help finding a rheumatologist, take these steps:
