Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Doctor Shortages A Roadblock To Bringing Back Needed House-Call Model
More than half of Americans live more than 30 miles away from full-time providers of home-based medical care, a new study finds, but there just aren't enough doctors and nurses to offer the care they need.
Once, doctors would gallop on horseback to care for the infirm in their own homes. In modern times, patients generally have had to transport themselves to hospitals and doctors' offices. Now, the prolonged aging of the population bulge known as the baby boomers is necessitating an upgraded return to the ways of yore, with cars instead of horses. There's just one major problem: The U.S. lacks the doctors, nurses and others to make house calls to the estimated two to four million people who need them. (Whitman, 8/8)
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