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Specialist Shortage
May–June 2010
Source: National Association of Childrens Hospitals and Related Institutions; as seen in The Wall Street Journal, January 20, 2010, in the “For Severely Ill Children, a Dearth of Doctors” article.
Explanation: The table reflects corrections made by the National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions upon discovery that the states Georgia and New Hampshire each have at least one pediatric rheumatologist. The table originally published in the Wall Street Journal summarizes data in the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) master file and is based on a physician-to-child population ratio (per 100,000 children). A physician-to-child ratio less than 0.1 per 100,000 children is rounded by the ABP to 0 (the nearest tenth). Therefore, the number of pediatric subspecialists in a particular subspecialty could be reported as 0 using this ratio methodology even if the state has a practicing specialist. While there are no physician data sources available that are 100 percent complete, the ABP master file provides the most robust database available on the number of ABP-certified pediatric subspecialists. The database sets certain limits on data that affect the number of subspecialists reported: 1. Any physician over the age of 65 years is not reported. 2. Subspecialists with missing data such as known address or age are not reported. (Note: the ABP treats missing data conservatively by not including subspecialists for whom the record is not complete). The data represent a snapshot in time as of 12/31/08 and therefore any changes in a subspecialist's location since 1/1/09 to the present would not be reflected until the next year's data set is generated.
Source: National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions
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