PCP Shortage

[disneychrista]

We have a residency program at the major provider conglomerate here. So while there is not necessarily a shortage to be seen, you just may not know WHO you’ll be seeing. Now to see your primary might take a few weeks/months.

Speaking of, I need to schedule my annuals that are due in September.

 

[Stratman50th]

Whew! For a minute there I though they were running out of PCP the drug - we wouldn't want that!

Same thing I thought.

 

[JLTraveling]

Not that I know of. But we're home to a couple of major teaching hospitals and a highly respected not for profit chain, and all of those facilities have seemingly endless numbers of clinics attached. There is some concern, though, about the abortion restrictions recently passed in the state (not a political post, I promise). They're worried that medical students and new graduates may choose unrestricted states, which could lead to a shortage in the future.

 

[tvguy]

I have no trouble making an appointment with my Primary Care Physician.
Specialists, THAT is a whole different story. I waited from December 2021 until June 30, 2022 for an appointment with a Nephrologist. Yup 7 months! My PCP tried pulling some strings to get me in earlier, and in the end, they did bump me up one month, otherwise my weight would have been 8 months.

 

[barkley]

I have no trouble making an appointment with my Primary Care Physician.
Specialists, THAT is a whole different story. I waited from December 2021 until June 30, 2022 for an appointment with a Nephrologist. Yup 7 months! My PCP tried pulling some strings to get me in earlier, and in the end, they did bump me up one month, otherwise my weight would have been 8 months.

dh's sleep doctor (sleep apnea) has a 2 year wait for an appointment.

 

[LuvOrlando]

I have one but it seems Urgent Care gobbles up most General Practitioners and we end up at Urgent Care a lot because they have better hours and are in better locations. Well as long as there isn't a stampede of infection counts that is, because when that happens I go completely virtual and revert back to my GP.

Count me in as one who thought you meant medicine, I call them GP's or Family Dr's.

 

[tvguy]

I have one but it seems Urgent Care gobbles up most General Practitioners and we end up at Urgent Care a lot because they have better hours and are in better locations. Well as long as there isn't a stampede of infection counts that is, because when that happens I go completely virtual and revert back to my GP.

Count me in as one who thought you meant medicine, I call them GP's or Family Dr's.

I only call them PCPs because that is how they are listed on my Insurance Card.

 

[LuvOrlando]

I only call them PCPs because that is how they are listed on my Insurance Card.

I know it's a legit name, it's just when I see the acronym I think the drug but there are lots of acronyms that are ripe for double entendre like Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. Suspect it's just because I am a child of the 70's, a time full of censors and civil disobedience.

 

[DisneyHardin]

My PCP is hard to get an appointment with. I pretty much only see her for well visits once a year to get my prescriptions refilled. If I am sick, I usually see the Nurse Practitioner at The Little Clinic in Kroger.

 

[abdmom]

Just before the pandemic, my PCP retired. The practice assigned me to a different PCP who then retired a couple of months into the pandemic. I was then reassigned to a third PCP who I don't think I ever saw because she never had appointments available. I saw PA's. Even when I broke my arm, I saw an orthopedic PA. The primary clinic where I went was closed for over a year in 2020-2021.

I moved to a new location with a more robust health care system a year ago. My first PCP retired shortly after I saw them for my first appointment. It took 4 months to get an appointment with a new PCP in the same medical group. I didn't like them, so it is taking another 4 months to get an appointment with a new PCP. I think that makes 6 PCP's in less than 3 years.

I have several family members who are M.D.'s including my late dh. The length of time it takes to get an M.D. and then to get specialized, is insane. I have one relative who is now in their last year of residency. They will be almost 33 when they finish. In contrast, I have another relative who went the lawyer route and started practicing when they were 26.

My late dh was a surgeon. He was always backed up at least 6 months for his surgeries. He tried recruiting other surgeons to the practice, but no one wanted to move to the cold weather state where the practice was. DH died in his early 40's and I'm sure that the stress of the job was at least partially responsible.

I think the increase in the number of PAs is a good thing, but med schools need to increase capacity. As the population ages, there is a much greater demand for PCPs and specialists and other health care workers.

 

[Kimkimba]

I never have a problem with my girls’ pediatricians. But my dh, ds, and my practice closed with little notice recently. And it was a busy practice.

 

[tvguy]

I just checked. My PCP has appointments open tomorrow. Next week he has appointments open Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Week after that, it appears he has openings every day for the next few months.

 

[tvguy]

I think the increase in the number of PAs is a good thing, but med schools need to increase capacity. As the population ages, there is a much greater demand for PCPs and specialists and other health care workers.

See, for what I am paying I expect to see my PCP. I have never seen a PA. And I have only done one video visit with a Pulmonary Surgeon after a biopsy on a tumor. It was originally scheduled as an in person visit, but they called the week before to change it to Video Visit. Made sense. Tumor is harmless and will need no treatment. An office visit would have been a waste of both of our times.

 

[tcufrog]

We have trouble getting in to see our PCP and often see the PA. The PCP though is good about checking and responding to patient portal messages which helps some.

I agree that there’s a dr shortage especially after Covid. Our metro area has one medical school that’s renowned for its research but our area has a huge population and one isn’t enough so my alma mater just opened a medical school. The fourth class just started. It’s brand new and small so I’m not sure how much it will help at first.

 

[nycdisneygal]

Lots of retirements plus hard to get the support staff these days. Recently someone much younger retired -- years and years of training and then burnt out after 10 years. I laughed at the post earlier mentoning 8 hour day including a lunch break! I worked 11 yesterday, brought my lunch back uneaten and worked more at home! i had to wait 4 mos to see PCP - my wait was so short since i work in the group.

 

[pookybean]

Yes we have less pcps.

Someone shared with me, they needed an eye appt. and their eye appts take one hour each visit! And no one else was usually in the waiting room. I said - well call for an appt, don’t wait.

If the eye doctor works 8 hours a day. And takes lunch. That’s 7 patients a day they can see if each patient takes an hour. Cause they were a specialist.

Plus maybe an emergency or two and phone calls, paperwork.

So it might take a bit to get in. They were amazed.

My daughter sees a specialty eye doctor, I called a month before she was eligible for her next follow up because I figured they would be behind (all doctors seem to be here too). They couldnt get her in until a month after she is eligible (I called late june for an appointment the first week of august, they cant see her until the second week of Sept).

It's a pain when you dont know when to call... there are some practices that dont have a schedule that far out and it gets frustrating.

 

[NMBCFangirl]

The two years of staying home and not seeing a doctor probably has something to do with this. Give it a another year and things will be back closer to normal. That said there is a shortage of medical personnel through-out the country.

I work for a large OBGYN group. The two years of people putting off appointments is definitely a factor. We are scheduling many months out right now for annual exams because of the backlog.