Sustaining excellence in pediatric care.

摘要

Concern about the shortage of primary care physicians in the United States has increased with the signing into law of the Affordable Health Care for America Act in March 2010. Susan Dentzer, editor-in-chief of Health Affairs, wrote in the May 2010 issue that "the nation's system of primary care is horribly broken, the victim of underinvestment, misaligned incentives, and malign neglect." Indeed, less than one-third of physicians now work in primary care, which has led to disruptions in access-to health care and the quality of care given. In 2007, the Massachusetts Medical Society reported that patients were waiting longer to see physicians and that teaching and community hospitals were finding it necessary to adjust the level of services provided because of physician supply problems, even though the physician to patient ratio in Massachusetts was and remains the highest in the country.