Intensivists caring for ICU patients will be in short supply through 2020, predicts a report to Congress by the Department of Health and Human Service’s Health Resources and Services Administration. Aging baby boomers alone are expected to increase demand for the specialty by approximately 38%. And if hospitals maintain optimal staffing of intensivists treating two-thirds of critically ill patients--they currently care for only one-third of ICU patients--there will be a shortage of 1,500 intensivists in 2020, or 129% above the projected supply. According to the report, recruiting physicians to critical care is difficult because of the specialty’s low reimbursement and lifestyle issues. Also, a large percentage of critical care fellows are international medical graduates who leave the United States after their visas expire.
