BOSTON – The Physicians Foundation has awarded nearly $750K in grant aid to develop a Web-based projection model that can be continually updated with new data to track ongoing physician workforce needs across the country.

The nonprofit organization awarded the grant to the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on Tuesday.
 
With the introduction of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which seeks  to extend insurance to more than 30 million people, there will be a significant influx of new patients. The grant is aimed at giving policy makers and health providers access to real-time data on the locations where physician shortages are most problematic at the local, state and national levels.
 
“Most experts agree that the nation is facing a shortage of physicians, but we don’t know how many, in what specialties and in which geographies we will fall short,” said Erin P. Fraher, PhD, who heads the project at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “This model represents an important step in fostering quality healthcare delivery to all patients across America.”
 
“The impending flood of new patients reinforces the critical need for timely and reliable data that illustrates the physician supply needs across the U.S.,” said Alan Plummer, Physicians Foundation board member and chair of the grants committee. “This tool will further enhance our ability to identify where physicians are most needed to support our patients and growing healthcare system.”
 
The University of North Carolina will use data from a wide variety of sources, including the American Medical Association and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Once the data is assembled, UNC, the Physicians Foundation and a clinical advisory group – comprised of practicing physicians – will work collaboratively to develop a model that enables users to estimate physician supply and demand within a set geography and/or specialty. Additionally, users will be able to incorporate a multitude of scenarios to evaluate physician workforce needs, and the sensitivity of projections affected by policy changes.