Physicians in high-intensity regions less satisfied

Physicians in regions with high-intensity medical care (i.e., a higher number of hospital beds and specialists per capita) report less satisfaction with their careers and perceive the quality of care they provide to be lower than physicians in regions with less healthcare spending per capita, according to a study published May 2 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Despite the presence of additional resources in high-intensity regions, physicians in those regions were less likely to obtain elective hospital admissions and adequate inpatient lengths of stay compared with counterparts in low-intensity regions. Physicians in high-intensity regions were also less likely to obtain high-quality specialist referrals and high-quality diagnostic imaging services, the researchers report.

High-intensity region physicians were also less likely to establish adequate communication with colleagues, maintain relationships with their patients that promote high-quality care, and gain freedom to make clinical decisions that met patients' needs.

"Even the possibility that higher health care intensity, itself closely related to greater physician supply, could lead to lower quality of care underscores the importance of proceeding carefully with decisions about further expansion of the physician workforce," the researchers conclude.

The researchers based their study on the responses of 10,577 physicians across 51 metropolitan and nine non-metropolitan regions of the nation.

To access the study's abstract, click here.