Insufficient Number of Primary Care Physicians Drives Many to Use ER
While the Massachussetts’ law requiring nearly everyone to have health insurance coverage was meant to lessen the burden on crowded emergency rooms, it hasn’t seemed to have solved the issue yet as the number of people in the ER has actually increased. Many doctors and nurses are blaming this on the fact that there are too few primary care physicians in the area, which leads many people to wait months before they can be seen by a doctor. Since they are already accustomed to going to the ER, they choose to do this over trudging through lengthy waiting periods. To read more about the situation, click here. What is the solution to this problem? Is it really a case of too few physicians, or is it a lack of education, or is there some other factor at work?