Growing up, I knew I wanted a job helping others. This passion is what drove me to become a physician and helped me through several years of medical school, residency, and eventually my own practice. It is the same passion that motivates me today to ensure that my patients receive the best possible care.
Of course, quality care is something that requires a whole team of health providers – and everyone involved plays an important role in meeting the needs of our patients. But it’s important that physicians are at the helm, leading the way.
Under a physician-led, team-based model of care, physicians and other health professionals work collaboratively to ensure that patients are treated safely and effectively, within the scope of their experience and education. Most importantly, this model leads to the best health outcomes for our patients. A study by the American Medical Association found that physician-led care results in fewer emergency room visits, fewer hospital admissions and readmissions, shorter hospital stays and overall lower health care costs.
Furthermore, studies show 95% of patients want a physician involved in their diagnosis and treatment. With eight years of formal education, a minimum of three years of residency and at least 12,000 hours of clinical training, physicians are the most highly trained health providers — and we’re trained to lead a care team.
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Physician-led, team-based care can help solve one of Kentucky’s most pressing health care issues: access to care. The Health Resources and Services Administration estimates that Kentucky will face a shortage of 960 primary care physicians by 2025 — the third largest shortage nationwide.
As a first step, we must invest in programs that keep and bring more physicians to Kentucky, such as graduate medical education funding and loan repayment programs. Kentucky should also consider other evidence-based reforms to address our health care workforce shortage — things like expanding telehealth and creating new initiatives and programs that encourage students from underserved areas to attend medical school.
The Kentucky Medical Association has led the way in bringing these reforms to our state. Last year, we helped pass House Bill 523, which established a state-based loan forgiveness program for physicians and other providers willing to locate in underserved areas, and we will continue to look for solutions to recruit and retain more physicians.
Despite what some may claim, solving complex issues like access, quality and cost of health care is not as simple as expanding the scope of practice for non-physicians and allowing independent practice, as a recent Courier Journal story on nurse practitioners pointed out. We know this because it has been tried and failed.
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Over the past two decades, several opportunities to practice have been created in an effort to fill gaps in the state’s health care workforce. Despite these efforts, 94% of Kentucky counties still face primary care shortages in 2021. Because non-physician providers are located in the same general area as physicians, even in states with relaxed scope of practice laws, these reforms do little to address the problem.
Physician involvement, even when care is provided by non-physician providers, is associated with higher quality of care—something all providers should seek for their patients. That’s why most states, including Kentucky’s neighboring states, have at least some provision regulating the level and scope of care provided by non-physicians.
Access, quality and cost—all of which are inextricably linked to physician-led, team-based care—are the cornerstones of the Kentucky Medical Association’s new Kentucky Physician Care Campaign. This effort will educate Kentuckians about the role of physicians within the care team and the collaboration between providers that leads to the best patient outcomes. We will also continue to advocate for policy solutions that will ensure the longevity of this model, even as the health care system evolves.
As a physician, I care deeply about the health and well-being of not only my patients, but all Kentuckians. These are not just numbers and charts. I know that I need a strong team working alongside me to provide the best care. I feel a tremendous responsibility to serve my patients in the safest and most effective way because I know the positive impact of quality, accessible care can be felt throughout the community.
Providing such care means sticking with—and expanding on—what really works: physician-led, team-based models that put patients’ best interests and care needs first.
Monalisa Taylor, MD, is a practicing physician and president of the Kentucky Medical Association.
