Primary care shortage affects nearly 3.8 million Virginians: VCU research

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- The primary care shortage is affecting nearly half of Virginia homes and almost 3.8 million residents, according to new research from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU).

According to a release shared by the university on Wednesday, July 23, 44% of consensus tracts in the state showed a lack of adequate access to primary care services, which affects nearly 3.8 million Virginians.

The findings, which were published in the Annals of Family Medicine, used anonymous health data to help inform workforce interventions targeting neighborhoods for expanded primary care access.

“Primary care physicians are the foundation of any health care system, with the ability to provide care across the spectrum of people’s lives,” said Dr. Hannah Shadowen, an M.D.-Ph.D. student at VCU’s School of Medicine and School of Public Health and lead author of the new study. “Not only do they help treat acute medical problems, they also play an important role in helping patients manage chronic health issues like diabetes and hypertension."

The research highlights that residents in rural areas with limited health care options often need to travel farther for medical appointments, and they are reportedly less likely to use primary care services -- a serious health concern, per a release from VCU.

The team assessed demographic factors, including age, insurance coverage, income level, medical needs, disability rates, education level, rurality and racial and economic segregation. They also included obstetrician-gynecologists, internal medicine physicians and pediatricians seen by patients for wellness visits.

“In order to develop interventions that effectively address primary care shortages, we need to better understand which communities are facing the biggest barriers to access,” said Dr. Alex Krist, a professor in the VCU School of Medicine’s Department of Family Medicine and Population Health and one of the study’s co-authors.

The data revealed that 850 physicians provided primary care services in 2019, with each of them seeing an average number of 1,368 patients per year -- underscoring that roughly 44% of Virginia's census tracts reportedly did not have adequate access to primary care physicians.

Further research emphasized that, in rural areas, there were about 725 fewer patients compared with those in suburban tracts.

“These findings show that more work needs to be done to increase Virginia’s rural primary care workforce,” Shadowen said. ”For example, expanding residency programs in rural settings or establishing incentive programs like loan repayment benefits could potentially help with closing these gaps in health care access.”

Despite the disparity, research noted that having access to primary care doesn't always mean that these services are being utilized, and their next studies are focused on "better understanding how access to care influences the likelihood of seeing a primary care physician in Virginia," per the release.