More Americans are seeking care for chronic health issues like osteoporosis, arthritis and back pain. However, the pool of rheumatologists able to treat these conditions is decreasing in the U.S., according to two recent studies.
For the first study, published in Arthritis Care & Research, researchers used primary and secondary data sources to analyze the 2015 rheumatology workforce and predict future trends. Researchers identified an estimated 6,013 rheumatologists in the workforce — 5,415 of whom were full-time employees — and determined patient demand exceeded rheumatologist supply by 700 clinicians in 2015. By 2030, researchers predicted the rheumatologist workforce would decrease to 4,882 clinicians, or 4,051 full-time employees. They expected patient demand to exceed the rheumatologist supply by 4,133 full-time employees in 2030.
"During this same time period the adult patient demand for doctor-diagnosed arthritis care is expected to increase by over 25 percent," said Daniel Battafarano, DO, program director of the rheumatology fellowship at San Antonio, Texas-based Brooke Army Medical Center and study author, told Reuters. "[T]he demand for care will clearly be higher than the supply of rheumatologists in the U.S."
Many baby boomer rheumatologists are retiring, and younger physicians are not stepping in to take their places or working as long of hours to meet patient demands, according to a second study published in Arthritis & Rheumatology.
"By 2030, there will be an excess demand for rheumatology care providers such that a doubling of the workforce would not be sufficient to meet the projected demand," Marcy Bolster, MD, study author and director of the rheumatology fellowship training program at Boston-based Massachusetts General Hospital, told Reuters.