The number of geriatric clinicians has risen in recent years, but not enough to match the demand caused by the aging US population, according to a new report from the United Health Foundation of health services company UnitedHealth Group.
The America’s Health Rankings 2024 Senior Report, released this morning, is a survey of trends and health factors that impact the seniors across the country.
Among its highlights was a finding that the number of geriatric clinicians actually grew 4% from 2022 to 2023, according to data from the US Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System.
Geriatricians and geriatric nurse practitioners are health professionals whose training is specialized in caring for older adults, including those living in long-term care settings. Receiving care from these clinicians has been shown to improve health outcomes for patients with conditions such as dementia and osteoporosis.
While the increase in geriatric clinicians is certainly welcome news for providers who rely on them to coordinate and deliver clinical care, the report noted that modest increases are not enough to keep up with a rapidly aging population overall. It cited an American Geriatrics Society projection that there will be a shortfall of more than 5,000 geriatricians by 2030.
“We recognize that there is still currently a shortfall in the number of geriatric clinicians compared to the need across the country, despite this improvement,” Rhonda Randall, DO, chief medical officer at UnitedHealthcare and board member at the United Health Foundation told McKnight’s. “While the growth in geriatricians and nurse practitioners shown in the report is a good sign and trending in the right direction, we know that further, continued increases will be needed to meet the need for geriatric clinicians – as the senior population is projected to continue growing in the coming years and decades.
The number of geriatricians in the US is still between 2,000 and 3,000 lower than it was in 2000, according to KFF reporting at the end of 2023.
The UHG report also noted that there are significant disparities between states. Rhode Island, for example, had nearly four times as many geriatric clinicians per patient as South Dakota did in 2023.
Nurse training and residency programs across the country have promoted geriatrics training, including by offering financial incentives like loan forgiveness, the UHG report noted. But the field still has a long way to go, as one of its contributors wrote.
“Geriatrics remains largely underrecognized as a specialty. It is hopeful to see a rise in the number of geriatric providers, like me, who are pursuing specialized training to effectively care for older adults,” Cailin McDaniel, a registered nurse who specializes in Geriatric Primary Care, wrote in a column accompanying the analysis. “Reports like this help practitioners shine a light on older adults’ individualized needs.”
Randall echoed that positive sentiment to McKnight’s Wednesday.
“One thing that I’m hopeful about is that as the number of geriatric providers grows, so too will the diversity of those professionals,” she said, “augmenting our ability to provide culturally competent care to older adults. It’s important that all of us, including seniors, have options to access care with providers who come from diverse backgrounds.
