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Study: Idaho has lowest number of primary care physicians per capita
Catie Clark//August 26, 2020//
For the past 30 years, the nonprofit United Health Foundation has issued an annual assessment of the nation’s health. One of the factors it considers in its weighted rankings is the per capita number of primary care physicians. For the 2019 calendar year, Idaho came in last at 96.6 primary care physicians per 100,000 people.
This is not a big surprise because Idaho is also last on the overall number of physicians per capita, based on a Kaiser Family Foundation study released earlier this year. Kaiser reported that Idaho had 168 physicians per 100,000 people. Kaiser looked at all physicians including specialists.
Idaho’s health outcomes are not solely a function of the number of available physicians by United Health’s metrics, which is why Idaho was ranked 16th for overall health. It ranked third in the country for its low rates of infectious diseases (chlamydia, pertussis and salmonella), fourth for preventable hospitalizations and fourth for public health funding. Idaho was one of the poorest performing states for immunizations.
The metrics used for the United Health Foundation study were developed by a blue-ribbon advisory board made up academic researchers, public health officials and medical professionals. United Health included general practice, family practice, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, geriatrics and internal medicine as primary care.
| State | Primary care physicians per 100,000 |
| Idaho | 96.6 |
| Utah | 102 |
| Nevada | 107.4 |
| Mississippi | 110.8 |
| Wyoming | 111 |
| Texas | 113.5 |
| Montana | 116 |
| Arkansas | 122.3 |
| Alabama | 122.8 |
| Georgia | 123.9 |
| Arizona | 125.8 |
| Kentucky | 127 |
| Indiana | 127.2 |
| Oklahoma | 131.2 |
| Florida | 131.3 |
| South Carolina | 131.3 |
| South Dakota | 131.4 |
| North Carolina | 134.4 |
| Kansas | 138.1 |
| Tennessee | 139.1 |
| Louisiana | 139.7 |
| Alaska | 141.2 |
| California | 141.4 |
| Colorado | 143.4 |
| New Mexico | 144.7 |
| Oregon | 147.4 |
| Virginia | 148.1 |
| Washington | 150 |
| Iowa | 152.2 |
| Wisconsin | 152.4 |
| North Dakota | 154.9 |
| Nebraska | 158.2 |
| New Hampshire | 162.9 |
| Delaware | 166.2 |
| Minnesota | 169.5 |
| Missouri | 171.5 |
| West Virginia | 172.8 |
| Ohio | 178.2 |
| New Jersey | 181 |
| Vermont | 188.7 |
| Illinois | 190 |
| Maryland | 192.1 |
| Hawaii | 193.9 |
| Maine | 199.1 |
| Michigan | 205.2 |
| Pennsylvania | 216.3 |
| Connecticut | 220 |
| New York | 230.7 |
| Massachusetts | 247.4 |
| Rhode Island | 274.9 |
| Source: United Health Foundation | |
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