conditions have complex care needs. Their physicians not only must treat the condition itself, but also must lead a team of caregivers who rally all the resources to help prevent costly complications for the patient.
Physicians must be the backbone of such a complex system of care if it is to be cost-effective. Otherwise, the state’s efforts to increase preventive care, improve medically necessary treatment for the chronically ill, and reduce inappropriate emergency department utilization will falter. Physicians also play an important role in helping develop and partnering with the public health system. This partnership can enhance local coordination of care, disease surveillance, access, and health promotion.
Make sure enough physicians and other health care professionals are working in all parts of Texas
Imagine life without access to a physician, for
yourself, your aging parent, or your child. Without access to a physician, life-enhancing and lifesaving medical care is virtually impossible. Physicians are the nucleus of the formula needed to achieve the vision of the Texas Medical Association: To improve the health of all Texans. Access to health care depends on the availability of physicians with the skills to match the needs of the state’s population.
Texas has a shortage of both primary care physicians and other specialists. Texas ranks behind all the other most-populous states in the number of patient care physicians per capita. To evaluate this shortage across specialties, we have devised a metric that compares the number of Texas physicians per 100,000 population with the U.S. average. We call this the “Texas Specialty Ratio.” The closer this ratio is to 100 percent for a given specialty, the closer Texas is to the national average.
• Texas has fewer physicians per capita than the national average for 36 out of 40 medical spe- cialty groups.
• Texas needs both more primary care physicians and other specialists. A number of specialties have acute shortages.
Medical Education Is a Public Good and a Tremendous Economic Asset to the State
• Academic health centers generate an additional $1.30 in economic activity for every dollar spent.19
• Texas ranks fifth among states in the total economic impact of academic health centers. These centers serve as major employers in their communities and impact 210,000 jobs. Many of these are filled by highly educated and skilled workers at higher salary levels.
• Academic health centers have a major financial impact in every region they are located: Houston, Dallas, Bryan/ College Station, Temple, Lubbock, El Paso, Fort Worth, and Tyler.
58 TEXAS MEDICINE July 2012 • Psychiatry and child/adolescent psychiatry are
Projected Texas Population Growth (in the millions)
45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0
2010
2020
2030
2040 n 0-18 n 19-64 n 65 & Older
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