IRVING, Texas, Nov. 11, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- As patients seek
quicker access to physicians through urgent care centers, retail
clinics, telehealth services and other "convenient care" offerings,
a new ranking system incorporating 33 variables shows those states
in which patients are likely to have the easiest access to
physicians and those states where access is likely to be the most
difficult.
Compiled by Merritt Hawkins, the
nation's leading physician search firm and a company of AMN
Healthcare (NYSE: AHS), the benchmarking data indicate that
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Delaware, and Maryland have the most positive physician
access variables, while Mississippi, Texas, New
Mexico, Nevada and
Oklahoma have the fewest.
"When it comes to accessing physicians, not all places or all
patients are equal," said Mark
Smith, president of Merritt
Hawkins. "As the healthcare system evolves,
there will be clear access 'haves' and access 'have-nots,' and the
rankings reflects these imbalances."
The Physician Access Index, as Merritt Hawkins' ranking
system is called, tracks nearly three dozen metrics that influence
access to physicians, physician assistants (PAs) and nurse
practitioners (NPs) in each state using a variety of proprietary
and non-proprietary sources. Metrics include physicians per capita
in the state, physicians trained per capita, physicians trained per
capita who stay in the state, PAs and NPs per capita, percent of
the population with health insurance, physician Medicare and
Medicaid acceptance rates, household income, states incorporating
telehealth, urgent care centers and retail clinics per capita,
percent of physicians close to retirement, and a variety of
others. Each state is given a score for each metric. The more
favorable the metric (i.e., a high number of physicians per capita)
the lower the score. Massachusetts, for example, has the most
physicians per capita and is given a score of one for this metric,
while Mississippi has the fewest
and is given a score of 50.
At 442 points, Massachusetts
has the lowest score and hence the most positive physician access
variables, while at 1096, Oklahoma
has the highest score and hence the fewest positive physician
access variables.
While these scores paint an overall picture of physician access
in each state, there are a number of factors that can influence
access within states, Smith said.Though New York trains more physicians per capita
than any state besides Massachusetts and is ranked 11th best for
physician access, it ranks 34th in percent of mental
health care needs met. New
Mexico, which ranks third to last in the overall rankings,
ranks sixth in patient encounters per capita in Federally Qualified
Health Centers (FQHCs), indicating the state has a robust safety
net program for traditionally underserved patients.
"No state is without its challenges and strong points where
physician access is concerned," Smith said. "There are pockets of
patients with poor physician access in highly ranked states and
pockets of patients with good physician access in states with low
rankings."
What the data show, Smith said, is in what categories states
have physician access challenges and how these challenges might be
addressed. Poverty rates and low per capita incomes can be key
barriers to physician access, but these are societal
problems that take time to resolve, according to Smith. However,
states can take more immediate steps to increase the number of
physicians they train by funding residency positions, and they can
increase the percent of physicians they retain after training
through educational loan repayment and other retention
incentives. States also can reduce barriers to telehealth
implementation, expand the practice parameters of NPs and PAs,
increase or expand FQHCs, and expand eligibility requirements for
Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act, if they have not done so
already, Smith said.
Though patient access to physicians varies from place to place,
the issue of physician availability is a broad one tied to federal
policies and national goals, according to Smith.
"The best way to ensure better access to physicians is to
enhance economic opportunity for all Americans, reducing barriers
to care," Smith said. "The federal government also needs to
remove its current cap on funding for physician training, which is
inhibiting physician supply as demand for doctors is growing."
Merritt Hawkins Physician
Access Index may be accessed at Merritt Hawkins' web site at
www.merritthawkins.com or can be obtained by calling
800-876-0500.
About Merritt
Hawkins
Founded in 1987, Merritt Hawkins is the leading physician search
and consulting firm in the United
States and is a company of AMN Healthcare
(www.amnhealthcare.com), the largest healthcare staffing
organization in the country and the innovator of healthcare
workforce solutions.
About AMN Healthcare
AMN Healthcare is the leader and
innovator in healthcare workforce solutions and staffing services
to healthcare facilities across the nation. AMN Healthcare's
workforce solutions - including managed services programs, vendor
management systems, recruitment process outsourcing and consulting
services - enable providers to successfully reduce complexity,
increase efficiency and improve patient outcomes within the rapidly
evolving healthcare environment. The Company provides unparalleled
access to the most comprehensive network of quality healthcare
professionals through its innovative recruitment strategies and
breadth of career opportunities. Clients include acute-care
hospitals, community health centers and clinics, physician practice
groups, retail and urgent care centers, home health facilities, and
many other healthcare settings. AMN Healthcare disseminates news
and information about the Company through its website, which can be
found at www.amnhealthcare.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of
the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The Company based
these forward-looking statements on its current expectations,
estimates and projections about future events and the industry in
which it operates using information currently available to it.
Factors that could cause actual results to differ from those
implied by the forward-looking statements contained in this press
release are set forth in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K
for the year ended December 31, 2014
and its other periodic reports as well as the Company's current and
other reports filed from time to time with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. Be advised that developments subsequent to
this press release are likely to cause these statements to become
outdated with the passage of time.
Contact: Phillip
Miller
469-524-1420/
phil.miller@amnhealthcare.com
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SOURCE AMN Healthcare Services, Inc.