Baby boomers might not have specialists they need
When 78 million baby boomers reach age 65 in 2011, they will depend upon a health care work force that is too small and unprepared to meet their needs, according to a report from the Institute of Medicine.
The report, Retooling for an Aging America: Building the Health Care Workforce, identifies bold initiatives that should begin immediately to train all providers in the basics of geriatric care and to train persons how to care for the aging.
The shortage of health care workers is worse in geriatric care because it attracts fewer specialists than other disciplines and experiences high turnover rates among direct care workers: nurse aides, home health aides, and personal care aides. For example, there are just more than 7,100 U.S. physicians certified in geriatrics, which is one per every 2,500 older Americans. Turnover among nurse aides averages 71% annually, and up to 90% of home health aides leave their jobs within the first two years.
Older adults as a group are healthier and live longer today than previous generations, the report notes. Even so, individuals older than 65 tend to have more complex conditions and health care needs.
The average 75-year-old American has three chronic conditions and uses four or more prescription medications, the report found. Dementia, osteoporosis, sensory impairment, and other age-related conditions present providers with challenges they don't often encounter with younger patients. While the number of older patients is rapidly increasing, the number of certified geriatric specialists is declining.
The report noted several ways that the Medicare program hinders the provision of quality care to older adults, including low reimbursement rates, its focus on treating short-term health problems rather than managing chronic conditions or age-related syndromes, and its lack of coverage for preventive services or for providers' time spent collaborating with a patient's other providers.
(Editor's note: Downloaded copies of Retooling for an Aging America: Building the Health Care Workforce are available for free from the National Academies Press at www.iom.edu/agingAmerica.)
When 78 million baby boomers reach age 65 in 2011, they will depend upon a health care work force that is too small and unprepared to meet their needs, according to a report from the Institute of Medicine.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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