2024 Review of Physician and Advanced Practitioner Recruiting Incentives
Specialist Physicians Remain in High Demand Close to two-thirds (63%) of AMN Healthcare’s search engagements during the 2023/24 Review period were for specialist physicians, virtually the same as the prior two years. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), patients 65 and older account for close to 40% of medical tests and procedures though they represent only 15% of the population. It is older patients who continue to drive the need for specialists, such as cardiologists, urologists, orthopedic surgeons, hematologists/oncologists, neurologists, and otolaryngologists, all of whom focus much of their practices treating various components of the body that decline as they age. Because older people generate a relatively high number of medical procedures, population aging also drives the need for radiologists and anesthesiologists. Virtually every medical procedure requires a diagnostic image to be read by a radiologist, which explains why radiologists ranked sixth on AMN Healthcare’s list of most requested search engagements last year. Similarly, most medical procedures require administration of anesthesia by an anesthesiologist or CRNA. Anesthesiologists ranked eighth on our list of most requested search engagements this year. Combined, anesthesiologists and CRNAs ranked third on the list.
A Dearth of OB/GYNs Obstetrician/Gynecologists ranked 3rd on the list of AMN Healthcare’s most requested search engagements this year, up from 4th the previous year and 5th the year prior to that. Half of counties in the U.S. lack an OB/GYN and more than 2.2 million women of childbearing age live in maternity care deserts with no hospitals offering obstetric care, obstetric providers, or birthing centers, according to the nonprofit maternal health organization March of Dimes. More than 89 obstetric units closed in rural hospitals between 2015 and 2019, according to the American Hospital Association, indicating that access to OB/GYN services already is limited in many areas.
of counties in the U.S. lack an OB/GYN 1/2
As demand for OB/GYNs increases, supply may be curtailing as a result of the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe vs. Wade . States with abortion bans saw a 10.5% decrease in OB/GYN residency applicants in 2023, while there was a 5.2% decrease in applicants nationwide, according to the AAMC ( Obstetrics Faces Decline in Residency Applicants, Services. Modern Healthcare. April 18, 2023 ). The impact of the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs vs. Jackson on OB/GYN supply is still playing out and will likely become more apparent over time. Psychiatry Drops as a Percent of all Search Engagements Psychiatry represented just 2% of all AMN Healthcare’s search engagement in the 2023/24 Review period, down from 6% in 2019. Psychiatry ranked 11th overall in terms of number of physician and APP search engagements AMN Healthcare conducted this year, while it ranked second as recently as 2019. However, this does not necessarily indicate that demand for psychiatrists is declining. COVID-19 exacerbated pervasive mental health problems in the U.S. and further restricted access to psychiatrists and other mental healthcare professionals. Due to a dearth of psychiatrists, some healthcare facilities are turning to other types of mental healthcare professionals to fill their mental healthcare needs, including psychologists and NPs. AMN Healthcare continues to field a growing number of requests for these both these types of professionals.
© AMN Healthcare 2024
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