Survey Confirms Growing Demand for Primary Care Physicians

The demand for family physicians exceeded the need for other physicians between 2006 and 2007, continuing a trend that began a few years ago, according to a new report (17-page PDF; About PDFs) from a national physician search firm.

Merritt Hawkins & Associates, a search firm that recruits doctors on a permanent basis for hospitals and medical groups, conducted 3,016 searches in 48 states (all states except Hawaii and Delaware) for more than 70 specialties and subspecialties between April 2006 and April 2007. During that period, the firm conducted 303 searches for family physicians, more than for any other specialty or subspecialty.

"We are getting a lot more primary care searches than we have in the past," said Phil Miller, vice president of communications for Merritt Hawkins. "The number one and two searches this year were for primary care physicians."

The number of searches conducted for family physicians in the past year was 10 percent more than the number of searches for general internal medicine, the second runner-up, and 36 percent more than the number for "hospitalists" (specialty not defined), the third-place finisher. In the previous year's survey, Merritt Hawkins conducted 257 searches for family physicians, placing FPs second behind only internists in terms of overall searches. Moreover, family physicians finished fourth in the number of searches conducted in 2004-05 and in 2003-04, clearly demonstrating a "resurgence in demand for primary care doctors over the last several years," said Miller.

"For family physicians in the market today, there is a lot of opportunity, a lot of choice where they can practice," Miller said.

This most recent survey, like past surveys, gauged salaries and recruiting incentives, including benefits and perks, and it found that the average salary -- or income-guarantee offers -- made to family physicians increased, after having remained flat for the past few years.

"Recruiting incentives have finally reacted to the market and are going up," Miller said.

The average salary or income-guarantee offers made to family physicians increased from $145,000 in 2005-06 to $161,000 in 2006-07, a gain of 11 percent; however, average offers made to FPs who also practice obstetrics remained relatively flat, increasing from $158,000 in 2005-06 to only $159,000 in 2006-07.

There is an overall shortage of physicians created by stagnant levels of physicians in training, a situation that has occurred despite a growing and aging population, thus "accelerating demand" for specialists and subspecialists, according to Miller. At the same time, fewer medical school graduates are opting for careers in primary care, diminishing the supply of primary care physicians.

"People are scrambling to recruit doctors in all kinds of different areas," Miller said. "Primary care is certainly one of them."

The survey also found that more specialists and subspecialists are choosing employment with hospitals and large-group practices over solo or small-group practices, an indication that some physicians are "tired of the stress of running a practice and dealing with payment and other issues," said Miller.

The most recent survey results reflect trends that were prevalent in the 1990s, when most of the searches conducted by Merritt Hawkins were for primary care physicians, a consequence of managed care, Miller noted. In the late 1990s and through the early part of this decade, however, the majority of searches were for other specialist and subspecialist categories. Hospitals and medical groups placed an emphasis on recruiting "high-ticket or high-revenue-producing surgeons and diagnostic specialists," before realizing they needed primary care physicians to manage care and refer patients to the subspecialists, according to Miller. As a result, the "pendulum has swung back the other way," he noted, leading to a surge in demand for primary care physicians.