Medical groups worry about older physicians' skills: 5 things to know

One in four members of the national physician workforce is over age 65, which is quadruple what the number was in the 1970s, according to KPBS.

Here are 5 things to know about the number of late career physicians in the U.S.

1. In San Diego County, 20.2 percent of state licensed physicians graduated from medical school before 1981, making them at least 60 years old. Of those 1,282 physicians, 423 are over age 70 and 66 are over age 80, according to the Medical Board of California.

2. The American Medical Association recently addressed worries over older physicians' skills. The AMA House of Delegates published a 21-page report in June advocating more hospitals' development of "guidelines and methods of screening and assessment to assure that senior/late career physicians remain able to provide safe and effective care for patients."

3. Evaluating physicians who only practice in their offices is a challenge. This is especially true of community physicians, who do not request hospital privileges and thus may not come under their hospital's required review process.

4. Some hospitals have created their own screening programs. Stanford (Calif.) hospitals mandate physical exams on physicians when they turn 75, while University of Virginia Health System (Charlottesville) requires physicians to take assessments after they turn 70.

5. Other groups have age cutoffs for practicing physicians. San Diego-based Anesthesia Service Medical Group requires physicians who reach their 70th birthday to leave. When physicians at Southern California Permanente Medical Group — part of Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente — turn 65, they must resign from the partnership but can continue on a contract or per diem basis.

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