More Physicians to Serve According to the Federation of State Medical Boards, there were 953,695 actively licensed physicians in the US during 2016, an increase of 3.0% from 2015. Approximately half (49.7%) of physicians are primary care and the rest are specialists. The number of physicians has increased steadily since 2010, and the physician-to- population ratio has also increased from 277 per 100,000-population during 2010 to 295 per 100,000-population during 2016. Those with an MD degree accounted for 91% of US physicians, with 9% having a DO (doctor of osteopathic medicine). The population of physicians who are DOs is increasing quickly, or 39% from 2010 to 2016, compared to 10% for MDs.

Physicians, by Gender and Age Although the majority of physicians are male (64.7%), the proportion of female doctors has been increasing rapidly, or 3.8% from 2010 to 2016. In fact, 33.6% of physicians are women younger than 40, compared to 18.6% of men younger than 40. Among US physicians, 76% have degrees from US and Canadian medical schools. The other most common locations of medical schools from which US physicians have received degrees are India, 49,563; the Caribbean, 35,971; and the Philippines, 13,507. The average age of doctors is increasing. While the number of physicians younger than 40 has increased slightly, those 40–49 and 50–59 have decreased since 2010. The number of doctors aged 60+ increased from 25.2% during 2010 to 29.2% during 2016.

Practice Perspectives In the 2017 Physician Compensation Survey from Physicians Practice, 46.7% of respondents owned or were a partner in their practice, 12.9% were employed in an independent practice and 32.3% were employed by a hospital or health system practice.  Practice owners and partners had the highest opportunity to earn more money, with 21.1% earning more than $450,000 annually, compared to 15.8% of doctors employed at hospitals/health service practices and 7.1% of doctors at independent practices. Of those physicians responding to The Great American Physician Survey, 70.12% said they don’t have sufficient time for their personal life and when asked how happy they are on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being extremely happy, the average was 6.68.

Choosing a Physician According to data from the 2017 Patient Survey Report for the Physicians Foundation, 64% of patients surveyed said they were extremely satisfied with their primary care doctor, 31% somewhat satisfied, 4% not that satisfied and 1% not at all satisfied. Of the 56% of respondents who have considered changing their primary doctor, 29% said it was because of service issues, including 6% who said the doctor does not do enough or does not listen to them and 24% because of convenience. Although 85% of patients said that technological advances will improve healthcare, 77% wish doctors would listen more, 59% said reliance on technology can interfere with quality care and 57% said the doctor relies more on the computer than patient input.

Physicians vs. Patients on The Affordable Care Act In a New England Journal of Medicine survey, 73.8% of primary care physicians said that changes should be made to the ACA, 15.1% favored repeal and 11.1% were satisfied with the law as written. More than 40% gave Trump an “F” in healthcare. The most popular parts of the ACA with physicians are guaranteeing coverage for preexisting conditions, 95.1%; allowing young adults to stay on parent policies 87.6%; tax credits for small businesses, 90.8%; and subsidies to individuals, 75.2%. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, half of Americans (50%) have favorable views of the ACA and 46% unfavorable, largely split according to party lines. The Pew Research Center found, however, the split was 54% approve vs. 43% disapprove.

Job Satisfaction If given an opportunity to choose another career path, 45.5% of doctors would not change, 19.2% would pick a specialty with a better work-life balance, 17.3% would not go into healthcare and 13.2% would pick a more lucrative specialty. Doctors’ biggest frustrations are 3rd party interference, 38.4%; government regulations, 13.9%; declining ability to practice independently, 12.8%; too much stress, 10.0%; inadequate compensation, 8.4%; not rewarding enough, 5.2%; and long hours, 4.2% More than one-third of doctors say they wish they could change workplaces. Of these, 32.16% want more time for their personal lives, 30.39% to escape from an unhealthy work culture, 15.19% to make more money and 7.42% to live in a different area.

Advertising Strategies Emphasize your personal touch and show doctors interacting with and listening to patients with eye contact and taking their time. Highlight the ease of scheduling appointments, whether for checkups or emergency, including any extended hours. Showcase friendly staff members and short wait times.

New Media Strategies Utilize an online patient portal, so they can easily schedule appointments, receive messages and check test results. Ask patients how they would like to receive information from your office: email, text or call. Before patients leave, ask them to leave a review on Healthgrades and other review sites.