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Health Professional Shortage Areas, Health Status, and Reform
Robert G. Good, DO
Nova Southeastern University—Sun Coast Hospital Largo, Fla
Arch Fam Med. 1996;5(4):196-197.
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| Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings. |
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The Editorial, "Health Professional Shortage Areas, Health Status, and Reform," by Patrick Dowling, MD, of Los Angeles1 reviews some concerns and proposes solutions to the difficulty of recruiting and maintaining physicians in health professional shortage areas (HPSAs). However, I believe some other considerations are in order, based on my 15 years of experience as an Iowa rural family physician.
I disagree with Dr Dowling's point that "the persistent maldistribution is testimony to the fact that the traditional market forces of supply and demand have not worked under our fee-for-service health care delivery system." The rural areas are significantly affected by federal programs that restrict and reformulate the market forces. Specifically, the Medicare program pays higher reimbursement fees to providers in urban and suburban areas than to providers in rural areas. While patients living in rural areas pay the same Medicare tax rate as urban patients, their physicians often receive
. . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]
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