The income gap between primary care and a specialty has cut a medical student's likelihood of choosing primary care in half.
"More individuals are applying to medical school, but ironically the numbers going into primary care are actually going down," said Jeff Susman, M.D.
Susman is a member of UC Physicians and Chair of Family Medicine at the University of Cincinnati.
"What we're seeing is actually a proportional increase in specialists and sub-specialists related to income," Susman continued.
He says those in primary care are on a treadmill of having to see dozens of patients per day with steadily declining compensation.
Those looking to shore-up the numbers suggest reform of the payment system takes a top priority.
Rather than pay a physician per patient visit, Susman argues doctors could be paid for managing a patient's total health.
"Make sure they have the preventive care that's appropriate. Make sure we manage their chronic diseases. Take care of a person's whole health, so we don't have to see 40 patients per day to make a living," Susman said.
He points to data that shows the health of a population increases with the number of primary care physicians – and at the same time – mortality decreases.
Furthermore, the cost to the public goes down because fewer people require more expensive care.
