The AP (9/14, Crary) reports on the worsening shortage of psychiatrists in the US. “According to the American Medical Association…the number of adult and child psychiatrists rose by only 12 percent, from 43,640 to 49,079,” from 1995 to 2013. Within this same period of time, “the US population increased by 37 percent; meanwhile, millions more Americans have become eligible for mental health coverage under the Affordable Care Act.”
American Psychiatric Association president Renee Binder, MD, “says the perception of inadequate pay is a factor in discouraging some medical students from choosing psychiatry as a specialty.” Yet “another problem,” Dr. “Binder said, is the paperwork requirements imposed by Medicare and private insurance companies,” which, she pointed out, “interferes with our ability to have the time to sit with our patients.”
Related Links:
— “Across much of U.S., a serious shortage of psychiatrists,” David Crary, Associated Press via Express News, September 13, 2015.