The U.S. primary care physician workforce: Undervalued service

Primary care physicians work hard, but their compensation is not correlated to their work effort when compared with physicians in other specialties. This disparity contributes to student disinterest in primary care specialties.

Biola H, Green LA, Phillips RL Jr, Guirguis-Blake J, and Fryer GE

From 1980 to 1999, family physicians, general internists, and general pediatricians have been outnumbered by specialists. Despite this disparity, these primary care physicians have continued to provide a larger proportion of office-based visits than specialists; while comprising a minority of physicians, primary care physicians provided a majority of visits made to doctors’ offices.

^{Source: The National Ambulatory Care Surveys 1980-1999}

The disproportionately large service commitment by primary care physicians has not been rewarded compared with other types of physicians.

Continuing to pay primary care physicians considerably less than other doctors discourages medical students from choosing primary care careers. This disparity threatens access to care and impedes achieving better health for all Americans. A better balance of physician reimbursement for care is urgently needed.

Biola H, Green LA, Phillips RL, Guirguis-Blake J, Fryer GE. The U.S. primary care physician workforce: undervalued service. Am Fam Physician. 2003 Oct 15;68(8):1486.