Medscape (7/31, Lowes) reports that physician recruiting firm Merritt Hawkins’ “latest report on recruiting trends shows a weak pulse for one specialty: psychiatry.” Medscape adds, “The number of searches for psychiatrists from April 2014 through March 2015 hit an all-time high in the company’s 27-year history.” Jeffrey Lieberman, MD, a past president of the American Psychiatric Association, “attributes the crisis to systemic problems in healthcare that hit his profession especially hard,” including low reimbursement rates, not enough psychiatry residency slots, and less than full implementation and enforcement of mental health parity rules. APA president Renee Binder, MD, said, “There are no instant fixes to meeting the demand for psychiatrists.”
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— Medscape (requires login and subscription)