Investigators assessed changes in the adult rheumatology workforce and practice characteristics over a period of approximately 15 years in a recent study published by Mannion et al in Arthritis & Rheumatology. The investigators used 2006 to 2020 national Medicare claims data to identify clinically active adult rheumatology physicians and advanced practice providers. For each calendar year, the investigators determined whether the rheumatologists were entering or exiting the workforce or were stable based on their presence or absence. They then evaluated the rheumatologists’ characteristics—including age, gender, practice type, region, and rural status—for 2019 as well as in mutually exclusive periods from 2009 to 2011, 2012 to 2015, and 2016 to 2019. The investigators identified 5,667 clinically active adult rheumatologists and 379 advanced practice providers in 2019 and noted a respective 23% and 141% increase from 2009 to 2020. Further, the number of female rheumatologists increased to 43% in 2019; however, female rheumatologists and those employed by a health-care system were more likely to leave the rheumatology workforce during the study period. Those in small practices in the southern United States were less likely to leave the workforce. The investigators discovered that the overall number of clinically active adult rheumatology providers expanded over the last decade by more than 20% to a high of 6,036 in 2020 before plateauing in recent years.
April 04, 2024