Although a growing number of children are seeking care for complex behavioral and developmental issues, the U.S. is seeing a decline in younger physicians pursuing this specialty, leading to increased appointment wait times for new patients, according to a study published in Pediatrics.
"There is a crisis right now as there are many children in need and not enough specialists to provide care for them," lead study author Carolyn Bridgemohan, MD, told Reuters. The recent surge in patient demand is partly due to treatment and diagnosis improvements, which have made it possible for more children with complex chronic health problems to survive beyond childhood, according to Dr. Bridgemohan.
The study authors analyzed survey data from 558 physicians and 125 nurse practitioners. Most of the physicians worked full-time, for an average of approximately 48 hours per week. The physicians typically saw about six new patients and 16 established patients on average each week.
Here are three findings from the study.
1. The survey found obstacles physicians faced in taking on new patients included paperwork, complexity of patients' conditions and a lack of clinical support.
2. Physicians also said they spend around 50 percent additional time on patient-related activities they could not bill for, with an increased number of non-billable minutes for new patients than for returning patients.
3. Nurses faced similar constraints to seeing more patients, including clinical complexity, a lack of clinical support and paperwork.