Maryland to Increase Primary Care Workforce by 25% by 2020

Maryland officials announced a plan to increase the number of primary care health professionals by 25 percent in the next 10 years by expanding educational opportunities, providing financial incentives and pushing through tort reform, according to a Health Leaders Media report.

Maryland, like many other states, is suffering from a physician shortage that impacts primary care most severely. The state believes the problem may worsen when healthcare expands insurance coverage to include 360,000 more Maryland residents.

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley has appointed a workforce investment board that used a federal grant to develop goals to improve the number of primary care providers by 2020. A recent study by the Maryland Hospital Association and MedChi found there are 4,596 primary care physicians in Maryland — but that nearly half were hospitalists. That means that without the hospitalists, the state only has approximately 52 primary care physicians per every 100,000 residents.

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