Consultants at PricewaterhouseCoopers L.L.P. are suggesting ideas for helping the country cope with a growing shortage of primary care physicians.
Efforts to hold down health care costs while promoting "universal access" to health care have contributed to a mismatch between demand for care and the supply in many areas of the United States, according to the Health Research Institute unit at PricewaterhouseCoopers, New York.
About 25% of consumers say it takes more than 30 days to see a doctor, and 10% say they've had to wait 3 months or longer, the institute consultants report.
In Massachusetts, which introduced a universal access program in 2006, the physician shortage is especially severe, the consultants write.
