National dermatology manpower requirements: the experience of prepaid group practices

Ten prepaid group health plans across the country were surveyed as part of an effort to estimate the need for dermatologists in the United States. Although generalizing the experiences of prepaid group practices to the general population is at best an imprecise approach, the dramatic shortage suggested by the data cannot be completely ascribed to the method used. Whereas the average ratio in the surveyed plans was 2.8 dermatologists per 100,00 subscribers, there are only about 1.9 dermatologists providing patient care per 100,000 persons in the general population. The difference between prepaid plan subscribers and the general population in annual visits to dermatologists is even more dramatic: 193 per 1,000 subscribers compared to 84 per 1,000 population.