Less than half of U.S. counties have one Black primary care provider<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter<\/b><\/p>\n
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TUESDAY, April 18, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Greater Black representation in the primary care provider (PCP) workforce is associated with better population health measures for Black individuals, according to a study published online April 14 in JAMA Network Open<\/em>.<\/p>\n John E. Snyder, M.D., M.P.H., from the Health Resources and Services Administration in Rockville, Maryland, and colleagues assessed county-level Black PCP workforce representation and its association with U.S. mortality-related outcomes for 2009, 2014, and 2019.<\/p>\n The researchers found that Black PCPs operated in 1,198 counties in 2009, 1,260 counties in 2014, and 1,308 counties in 2019, or less than half of all 3,142 Census-defined U.S. counties as of 2014. Greater Black workforce representation was associated with higher life expectancy and was inversely associated with all-cause Black mortality, as well as disparities in mortality rates between Black and White individuals. In adjusted models, a 10 percent increase in Black PCP representation was associated with 30.61 days greater life expectancy.<\/p>\n “The findings of this cohort study suggest that greater Black PCP workforce representation is associated with better population health measures for Black individuals, although there was a dearth of U.S. counties with at least one Black PCP during each study time point,” the authors write. “Investments to build a more representative PCP workforce nationally may be important for improving population health.”<\/p>\n Abstract\/Full Text<\/a><\/p>\n