Lee William J, Shah Yash, Ku Albert, Patel Nidhi, Salvador Magdalena
Radiology, Rutgers University New Jersey Medical School, Newark, USA.
Radiology, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, USA.
Cureus. 2023 Aug 14;15(8):e43474. doi: 10.7759/cureus.43474. eCollection 2023 Aug.
This study aimed to determine if a disproportionate number of radiologists practice in high-income versus low-income counties in New Jersey (NJ), identify which vulnerable populations are most in need of more radiologists, and discuss how these relative differences can ultimately influence health outcomes.
The NJ Health Care Profile, a database overseen and maintained by the Division of Consumer Affairs, was queried for all actively practicing radiologists within the state of NJ. These results were grouped into diagnostic and interventional radiologists followed by further stratification of physicians based on the counties where they currently practice. The median household income and population size of each county for 2021 were obtained from the US Census database. The ratio of the population size of each county over the number of radiologists in that county was used as a surrogate marker for disparities in patient care within the state and was compared between counties grouped by levels of income.
Of the 1,186 board-certified radiologists actively practicing within the state of NJ, 86% are solely diagnostic radiologists and 14% are interventional radiologists. About 44% of radiologists practice within counties that are within the top one-third of median household income in NJ, 25% practice within counties in the middle one-third, and 31% practice within counties in the bottom one-third.
There is a disproportionate number of radiologists practicing in high-income counties as opposed to lower-income counties. A contradiction to this trend was noted in three low-income counties: Essex, Camden, and Atlantic County, all of which exhibited low numbers of individuals per radiologist that rivaled those of higher-income counties. This finding is a concrete measure of successful radiologist recruitment efforts within these counties during the past few years to combat the increased prevalence of disease and associated complications that historically marginalized communities tend to disproportionately exhibit. Other low-income counties should look to what Essex, Camden, and Atlantic County have done to increase radiologist recruitment to levels that rival those of high-income areas.
本研究旨在确定新泽西州（NJ）高收入县与低收入县执业的放射科医生数量是否不成比例，确定哪些弱势群体最需要更多放射科医生，并讨论这些相对差异最终如何影响健康结果。
查询由消费者事务司监督和维护的数据库NJ医疗保健概况，以获取新泽西州所有在职执业放射科医生的信息。这些结果分为诊断放射科医生和介入放射科医生，然后根据医生目前执业的县进一步分层。2021年每个县的家庭收入中位数和人口规模数据来自美国人口普查数据库。每个县的人口规模与该县放射科医生数量的比率被用作该州患者护理差异的替代指标，并在按收入水平分组的县之间进行比较。
在新泽西州积极执业的1186名获得委员会认证的放射科医生中，86%是单纯的诊断放射科医生，14%是介入放射科医生。约44%的放射科医生在新泽西州家庭收入中位数排名前三分之一的县执业，25%在中间三分之一的县执业，31%在底部三分之一的县执业。
与低收入县相比，高收入县执业的放射科医生数量不成比例。在三个低收入县——埃塞克斯县、卡姆登县和大西洋县发现了与这一趋势相悖的情况，这三个县每名放射科医生服务的人数都很少，与高收入县相当。这一发现具体表明了过去几年这些县在放射科医生招聘方面所做的努力取得了成功，以应对历史上边缘化社区往往不成比例出现的疾病患病率上升和相关并发症。其他低收入县应借鉴埃塞克斯县、卡姆登县和大西洋县的做法，将放射科医生招聘人数提高到与高收入地区相当的水平。
