Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Patients Terrified, Powerless As Doctors Flee Puerto Rico By The Hundreds
Doctors have gradually left Puerto Rico during a decade-long recession that has gripped the island and driven more than 200,000 people to the U.S. mainland seeking better opportunities. Now, the steady departure of pediatricians, surgeons, orthopedists, neurologists and others has become a stampede as the economy shows no sign of improving and financial problems in the territorial health insurance program make it nearly impossible for doctors to stay in business. (Coto, 10/27)
In other news on physician shortages —
An acute need for more and easier access to mental health treatment and improvements in communications technology have set off a boom in remote therapy, but strict licensing rules and varying state laws are hampering its growth. Like telehealth in general, using videoconferencing, smartphones and other technology to treat mental illness has long been recognized as an invaluable tool for getting care to people in rural areas, where shortages of psychiatrists, psychologists and other providers are even more acute than in the rest of the nation. (Frandsen, 10/26)
As the state's rural population ages, increasing its need for health care, Wisconsin is facing a shortage of physicians in rural areas that is projected to get much worse in coming decades. To address it, the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, the Medical College of Wisconsin and the state’s health systems are developing residency programs in rural areas — knowing that doctors are more likely to practice where they do their training. Residencies are the typically three to five years of training that follow medical school. (Boulton, 10/26)
Gov. Wolf on Wednesday signed legislation making Pennsylvania part of an interstate pact intended to streamline physician licensing, improve health-care access, and expand telemedicine, according to his spokesman, Jeffrey Sheridan. Under the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, doctors get licensed in their home state, which does the usual credential and background checks. Then they can select states in the compact for licenses that are essentially automatic. (McCullough, 10/26)
