Health Affairs

Health Affairs, 28, no. 5 (2009): 1327-1335 doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.28.5.1327 © 2009 by Project HOPE	New Online   Getting Health Reform Done   After the State of the Union   Incremental Reform   E-Health in Developing World   Most-Read Articles in 2009

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Saving Money

Would Having More Primary Care Doctors Cut Health Spending Growth?

Michael E. Chernew, Lindsay Sabik, Amitabh Chandra and Joseph P. Newhouse

Spending on health care in markets with a larger percentage of primary care physicians (PCPs) is lower at any point in time than is true in other markets. The relationship between physician workforce composition and the rate of spending growth is less clear. This analysis of market-level Medicare spending data between 1995 and 2005 reveals that the proportion of PCPs is not associated with spending growth. Additional research is needed before the potential causal impact of PCPs can be fully assessed. However, these findings suggest that changes in the composition of the physician workforce will not be sufficient to address spending growth.

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