Trend Toward Concierge Medicine + Obamacare With a Flat Supply of MDs = Pending Doc Shortage?

The numbers are still very small — a survey commissioned by a congressional agency last year identified 756 concierge medical doctors in the United States, up from 146 in 2005. And Florida-based MDVIP, a company that helps physicians set up these practices, said it will add six new MDVIP doctors in the Boston area this year, increasing its physicians statewide to 16.

But even a tiny number of doctors leaving traditional offices for boutique practices — out of thousands of primary care physicians — is enough to make some health care industry leaders nervous. They worry that more doctors will follow as insurers and government payers cut fees and hem in providers with regulations. And when even one doctor makes the switch, there are substantial side effects, leaving hundreds of patients to scramble for a new physician."

MP: The chart above of medical school graduates (AAMC data here) on an annual basis back to 1980 shows why the trend toward concierge medicine might present some future problems for the health care industry and Obamacare: the number of medical school graduates has been flat for 30 years, while the U.S. population has increased by 37.4% from 226.45 million in 1980 to 311.256 million today.  As more physicians abandon high-volume, paperwork-intensive practices for low-volume concierge practices, and as more Americans are soon forced into Obamacare, where will the doctors come from?