ARCH Physician Manpower Survey. Summary: Fid-Bau Portal

ARCH Physician Manpower Survey. Summary

Results of a 1971 survey of physicians within the St. Louis, Missouri, metropolitan area are summarized. Patterns of physician age structure, specialty, and hospital practice were examined for 3,122 physicians in Missouri and 503 in Illinois. Of the Missouri physicians surveyed, 673 were in training. Results indicated that six hospitals in the area which had significantly higher average staff physician age structures also tended to serve patient catchment areas consisting of generally older and poorer sections. Conversely, four hospitals which tended to draw patients from newly developed regions had significantly lower average staff physician age structures. Of the 29 physician specialties examined, all except two followed a trend of high numbers of physicians being affiliated with only one or two hospitals and few physicians having more than five affiliations. The exceptions were thoracic surgeons and neurosurgeons. Analysis of data on physicians holding joint staff appointments allowed an assessment of patterns of significant interhospital connections. This analysis showed that in Missouri, 15 significant interhospital connections occur, and in Illinois 20 such connections exist. There were no recorded admissions by Illinois physicians to Missouri hospitals or by Missouri physicians to Illinois hospitals. It is recommended that this study be supplemented with further examination of the area's manpower situation to culminate in the health manpower component of a comprehensive health plan.