Health care stakeholders have long relied upon the American Medical Association’s Masterfile to identify physicians who practice primary care medicine. This approach has proven problematic because the AMA does not differentiate physicians with primary care training from physicians who practice true primary care. As a result, estimates of U.S. primary care capacity are inaccurate, at best. To ensure an adequate primary care workforce in the future, stakeholders must use data that accurately reflects which physicians (and other clinical staff) provide primary care. In this new study, researchers point to alternative data that can be used to accurately assess and predict future workforce needs.
Using State All-Payer Claims Data to Identify the Active Primary Care Workforce: A Novel Study in Virginia
Alison N. Huffstetler, MD, et al
Virginia Commonwealth University, Department of Family Medicine and Population Health, Richmond
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Annals of Family Medicine is a peer-reviewed, indexed research journal that provides a cross-disciplinary forum for new, evidence-based information affecting the primary care disciplines. Launched in May 2003, Annals is sponsored by seven family medical organizations, including the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Board of Family Medicine, the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, the Association of Departments of Family Medicine, the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors, the North American Primary Care Research Group, and The College of Family Physicians of Canada. Annals is published six times each year and contains original research from the clinical, biomedical, social and health services areas, as well as contributions on methodology and theory, selected reviews, essays and editorials. Complete editorial content and interactive discussion groups for each published article can be accessed free of charge on the journal’s website, www.AnnFamMed.org.
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