Report: Healthcare access a top concern among physicians

Physicians say they are most concerned about the public’s access to healthcare, according to a new Medscape report. Based on survey responses from more than 2,300 physicians in 29 specialties about the most important social issues, healthcare access was ranked the highest at 85%.

Substance/opioid abuse was reported as the next top concern with 66%. Forty-two percent of physicians reported seeing patients with substance/opioid abuse problems “often” and 35% saw them “sometimes.” Only 5% reported never seeing a patient with these kinds of problems.

Racial disparities was ranked third at 54%. Although two-thirds of physicians said great strides have been made to fix racial inequality, most agreed that racial inequality still needs to be addressed (78%) and that patients received differing levels of medical treatment based on race (55%).

Gun control was the next highest concern at 53%, with nearly all physicians surveyed agreeing that background checks should be required to own a firearm (96%). Most also agreed that only someone 18 years or older should own a firearm (90%) and that a psych evaluation should be required (70%).