Connecticut physician workforce survey 2008: initial findings on physician perceptions and potential impact on access...

To identify problems associated with the supply of physicians in certain medical specialty areas in Connecticut, as well as to determine the causes ofthose problems, and to assess their impact on patients' access to care.

A systematic probability sampling of 4,000 licensed physicians practicing in Connecticut was drawn from a master database compiled by the Connecticut State Medical Society. Physicians from 18 specialty areas were asked to complete a brief 34-question self-administered mail survey.

1,077 physicians completed the survey resulting in an overall response rate of 26.9%. Nearly 20% of physicians across all specialty areas reported that they were contemplating a career change because of the Connecticut practice environment, with those in the surgical specialties most likely to have contemplated such a change. Roughly 40% of those in primary care specialties reported decreases in the number of generalists in their geographic area. Over 80% of the sample reported that recruiting new physicians was either very or somewhat difficult, with the greatest problems observed among urologists and neurosurgeons. Forty-six percent of physicians in the sample reported that obtaining referrals or consultations for their patients had become more difficult over the past three years and reported that they had reduced the number of high-risk services they performed and high-risk patients they saw over the past three years.

The practice environment in Connecticut appears to be having a demonstrable impact on the supply of physicians in certain medical specialty areas and on patients' access to care.