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Charts and Graphs

The American Academy of Family Physicians has made these charts and graphs available for use by journalists to help illustrate the care delivered by family physicians. For additional information, please contact us.

Primary Care Physicians and Other Specialties in U.S., by Percent

Health care policy analysts say that efficient, high quality health care systems are based on primary medical care. The United States does not currently have such a system; only 43 percent of physicians (family physicians, internists, obstetrician-gynecologists, pediatricians, and general practitioners) provide primary care services.
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Number of Office Visits to Selected Specialties, 2006

Americans’ dependence on primary care is reflected by the number of office visits they make to various specialties. Although primary care physicians constituted only 43 percent of U.S. physicians, they provided more patient care visits compared with other medical specialist groups or care settings. This graph shows that for every 100 people, there were more than 179 primary care office visits.
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Median Expenses per Office-based Physician Visit, by Specialty Type, 2004

Primary care provides the most cost-efficient form of medical care, and family physicians are among the most cost-efficient in primary care. On average, the cost of an office visit to a family physician or primary care internist is $64.
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People With Chronic Conditions Who Have Seen a Physician, 2004

Primary care physicians play a vital role in the ongoing management of chronic conditions ranging from asthma and diabetes to congestive heart failure. In addition to seeing subspecialists who care for disease-specific problems, more than 80 percent of patients with chronic illness continue to see their primary care physicians who coordinate their treatment with subspecialists, monitor the impact of treating the chronic illness on their overall health, and provide preventive and first-contact care for communicable illness.
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Specialty of Adults’ Usual Source of Care (USC) and Average Health Care Expenditures

For adults, the total cost of receiving medical care from family physicians is less than the cost of receiving care from other medical specialists and subspecialists. This graph shows that when patients see a family physician, their total costs for the office visit, prescriptions and remaining health expenses are lower than if they had gone to see general internists and subspecialists, and are equal to those for non-hospital clinics. Only adults who have no usual source of care spend less for health care.
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Specialty of Children’s Usual Source of Care (USC) and Average Health Care Expenditures

For children, the total cost of receiving medical care from family physicians is less than the cost of receiving care from other medical specialists, subspecialists and non-hospital clinics. This graph shows that when children receive care from a family physician, the total costs for the office visit, prescriptions and remaining health expenses are lower than if they had gone to see pediatricians, subspecialists, and non-hosptial clinics. Only children who have no usual source of care spend less for health care.
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Sampling of Hospital Services Provided by Family Physicians and Percent of FPs Who Provide the Services

Family physicians provide a wide range of hospital-based services, including intensive and coronary care, emergency care, pediatric and newborn care, and minor surgery.
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Where Americans Get Health Care, 2001

Most medical students are trained in university-based hospitals known as academic health centers, which care for the most seriously ill patients. This hospital-based education skews medical students’ perception of medical practice, because most patients get their care in doctors’ offices and community settings. In fact, very few of students’ future patients will actually require care in such a high-tech, tertiary care hospital as an academic health center.

Data show that for every 1,000 Americans:

800 have some type of health symptoms
327 consider seeking medical care
217 visit a physician office
65 visit a complementary or alternative care provider
21 seek care in a hospital outpatient clinic
14 receive home health care
13 go to the emergency room
8 are hospitalized and
Fewer than 1 is hospitalized in a tertiary care, academic health setting.

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Fixing Health Care: What Women Want

A recent Harris Interactive Poll sponsored by the AAFP found that women who make health care decisions for themselves and their families want elements of a patient-centered medical home.

Among the most important elements are same-day appointments for unexpected illnesses and having a physician who knows all the family members’ medical histories, who coordinates care with other doctors and who cares for all family members.
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Funding for Title VII, Section 747 Adjusted (1984 Dollars)

Section 747 of Title VII of the Public Health Services Act is the most important program for encouraging primary care medical education in medical schools. This funding is to be used specifically to build on primary care medical education. Despite the growing shortage of primary care physicians, federal funding for Section 747 of Title VII has plummeted from $92.4 million in fiscal year 2003 to $48 million in 2008. This graph demonstrates the changes in funding levels based on the consumer price index for professional medical services, using 1984 as the baseline year for adjustment.
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Percent of Medical School Graduates With Debt and Amount Owed, 2005

Virtually every medical student takes on debt, regardless of the specialty they choose as a career. Medical student debt influences the career choices of medical school graduates. As their debt soars, medical students are more likely to go into subspecialties that pay more than primary care careers. The U.S. health care system pays more for procedures to intervene in a disease process than for primary care physician-patient interaction that could prevent the disease. As a result, subspecialists who provide more procedures than family physicians and other primary care physicians, earn far more.
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Family Medicine Positions Offered and Filled With U.S Seniors (1997-2008)

Student interest in primary care has plummeted in the past decade. As interest declines, family medicine residency programs have been forced to reduce the number of positions offered to graduating medical students. Some programs have closed altogether. The 2006 AAFP Workforce Report predicted a need for 139,531 family physicians by 2020. That will require graduating a total of 3,725 family physicians from ACGME accredited family medicine residencies and 714 from American Osteopathic Association residencies. At the current rate, the medical education system is graduating fewer than half that total number.
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Median Income of Physicians by Specialty, 2007

Family physicians and their primary care colleagues rank lowest in income of all medical specialties. The U.S. health care system pays more for procedures that intervene in a disease process or injury than it pays for patient-physician office visits that prevent disease and injury. The result: an expensive health care system that strains the financial capacity of individuals, employers and public safety net programs.
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State-by-State Number of Family Physicians in 2006 and Projected Need in 2020

Every state in the Union will need significantly more family physicians by 2020, according to the 2006 AAFP Workforce Report. The report predicted a national need for 139,531 family physicians by 2020. The United States already has a shortage of family physicians, and demand continues to rise. Merritt Hawkins, a national physician recruitment company, reports that recruitment requests for family physicians grew by 62 percent between 2006-2007 and 2007-2008. Requests for family physicians grew by 196 percent between 2004-2005 and 2007-2008.
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