Indicator: Health Care Providers

Outcome (s): Communities capable of meeting the needs of children and families in all of their diversity.

Why This is Important

If a community is to meet the needs of its children and families, it must be able to sustain an adequate health care system. An important indicator of that is how many providers are present in a community.

Where We Stand

When physicians apply for relicensure to the State’s Board of Licensure in Medicine (which licenses allopaths/MDs) and Board for Osteopathic Licensure (which licenses osteopaths/DOs), a survey is periodically enclosed and returned on a voluntary basis by the licensee. Returns from that survey indicated that the number of pediatricians, family practitioners, and general practitioners in the state fell somewhat between 1998 and 2000, as did the rate per 1,000 children aged 0-17. Both indicators rose again in year 2002. The number of health care providers rose again in 2004, however, the rate of providers per 1,000 children remained at 3.0. Over 95% of the MDs and DOs returned the surveys in each year, but the fact that not everyone did so means that the numbers for the two years are not exactly comparable.

Data Source and Context

Data is from the Physicians Maine 2004 Report, Maine Cooperative Health Manpower Resource Inventory, Office of Data, Research and Vital Statistics, Maine Department of Health and Human Services.