Signals: Do More Doctors Speed Up Access? (tldr: no)
I keep reading that long appointment wait times are reflective of a doctor shortage, and to fix them we need to train (or import) more doctors.
AMN Healthcare's 2025 survey tracks wait times across six specialties in fifteen metros. I plotted each metro's average wait time to get an appointment against its physician supply (using AAMC statewide physician supply as a proxy for metro physician supply) and found . . . no correlation.
In fact, Massachusetts has the highest physician-to-population ratio of any state but Boston has the longest wait of any metro surveyed — 65 days against a 31-day average. AMN notes the paradox in places like Boston, but still concludes the core problem is simply not having enough doctors:
“if patients are having difficulty scheduling appointments in these highly populated areas, it can be assumed that access to physicians may be even more problematic in areas with fewer physicians.”
I guess if the only tool you have is a stethoscope…
Of course, this graph doesn't prove no shortage exists, but it demonstrates that it’s a lot more complicated than simply “more doctors is the solution to long wait times.”
More on this on Monday.