Physician Workforce Demand Rises 5% As Orgs Seek Primary Care Docs

December 26, 2019 - Despite a growing healthcare provider shortage, physician workforce demand has grown year-over-year over the past three years, according to a recent study conducted by Doximity.

The company’s national research study on the 2019 labor market for doctors showed a five percent increase in job opportunities for physicians in the US versus last year. The physician workforce demand in 2019 was slightly down compared to the seven percent uptick observed in last year’s report but was still line with historical rates for growth in the job market, researchers reported.

The news is good for physicians practicing today. However, it also exacerbates concerns about a physician shortage, which the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) predicted will be up to 122,000 doctors by 2032.

“While the job market is strong for physicians, this continued growth points to a serious concern: the potential impact of a physician shortage on patients,” Amit Phull, MD, vice president of strategy and insights at Doximity, stated in a press release. “As access to care increases in the U.S., it is essential that healthcare stakeholders consider this increasing demand for doctors and how it's cascading through the system, especially in smaller cities and rural areas.”

Provider organizations were particularly demanding primary care physicians, the study showed. Family medicine and internal medicine physicians were in the most demand in 2019, followed by those practicing emergency medicine, psychiatry, and obstetrics and gynecology. Pediatrics – another primary care specialty – ranked ninth for the most demanded physicians.

Many of these physicians were also most in demand in telemedicine, the study found.

Telemedicine continues to be one of the highest growth sectors in the healthcare market, explained Christopher Whaley, PhD, lead author of the report and assistant adjunct professor at the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health.

Doximity’s review of physician demand in the telemedicine job market uncovered a need for internal medicine physicians. Other specialties in high demand in the sector were psychiatry, radiology, family medicine, pediatrics, and emergency medicine.

As the demand for primary care physicians increased, so did their compensation rates. The specialty experiencing the largest growth in compensation in 2019 was pediatrics with a 9 percent boost in pay. Preventative medicine was a close second with an 8 percent increase in physician compensation.

Other specialties reporting a significant increase in compensation this year included pediatric hematology and oncology (7 percent), pediatric cardiology (7 percent), geriatrics (6 percent), neurology (6 percent), and general surgery (6 percent).

Despite significant compensation growth, these physicians still did not make the list of highest-paid specialties in 2019.

More specialized physicians topped the list of highest-paid doctors, the study showed. For example, neurosurgeons ranked number one this year, followed by thoracic surgeons, orthopedic surgeons, radiation oncologists, and vascular surgeons.

Specialists have tended to earn more than their primary care peers in spite of increased demands for greater preventative care and value-based care models that make primary care providers the quarterback of patient care. A recent report from the Medical Management Group Association (MGMA) found that primary care compensation increased by 3.4 percent on average from 2017 to 2018, while other specialties earned a 4.4 percent boost during the same period.

This trend could spell trouble for the population, which is rapidly aging and requiring more healthcare services.

About 13 percent of US residents already live in an area facing a primary care shortage, according to a recent report from UnitedHealth Group. And these areas are likely to experience a primary care shortage as the number of medical students pursuing primary care drops.

According to Doximity, areas that are already feeling the pinch from physician shortages included in El Paso, Texas; Miami, Florida; Cleveland, Ohio; Phoenix, Arizona; and Denver, Colorado. These cities had the most open physician positions advertised on Doximity’s professional medical network, however organizations in the areas did not pay as well as others included in the network.

The top five areas where physicians were paid the most in 2019 and the average compensation for a physician practicing there included:

• Milwaukee, Wisconsin - $395,363
• New Orleans, Louisiana - $384,651
• Riverside, California - $371,296
• Minneapolis, Minnesota - $369,889
• Charlotte, North Carolina - $368,205

New Orleans and Riverside also experienced some of the largest physician compensation growth in 2019 at ten percent and three percent, respectively.