Researchers have identified another reason why so many physicians are working for large groups and practices, and it has to do with health care reform. Data from the Medicare Shared Savings program found that that the move to ACO-driven physician consolidation accelerated in ACO-heavy markets between 2010 and 2015.In markets with the greatest ACO penetration, there was a 4% increase in practices with more than 50 physicians and a 3% decline in practices with 10 or fewer physicians. An article in Fierce Healthcare says the catch is that while ACOs are associated with higher quality and lower costs, consolidation of physician practices is often associated with the opposite traits, at least in some settings.

In what will be seen as good news by health care systems and health care recruiters, one group says that warnings about the shortage of physicians may be exaggerated. A survey by the Texas Medical Center Health Policy Institute found that only 19% of patients struggled to make an appointment with a generalist and that only 15% experienced similar problems seeing a specialist. Officials with the institute say the best way to gauge if there’s a shortage of physicians is to ask patients how much trouble they have finding a clinician. Despite that assertion, the institute also lays out solutions to preventing a physician shortage that includes using NPs/Pas and convincing physicians to delay retirement. A report earlier this year issued by the Association of American Medical Colleges predicted that the U.S. would face a shortage of 122,000 physicians by 2032.