By Susan Levine Washington Post Staff Writer http://www.washingtonpost.com Much of Maryland faces a doctor shortage that could become severe by 2015, forcing patients to wait longer for appointments, search for specialists and turn more frequently to emergency rooms for help, according to a report released yesterday.

40% of Md. doctors don’t treat patients, report says By M. William Salganik | Sun reporter http://www.baltimoresun.com Although the state has plenty of doctors, it doesn’t have enough who actually see patients — a situation that creates “a silent and growing crisis,” the head of the state medical society said Monday. The shortages are greatest […]

By DAVID GULLIVER http://www.heraldtribune.com When Jean Weiller felt so sick she could not get out of bed, she called her doctor. Nothing unusual there — that is what most people do. But most people do not have 9,700 miles — and a 12-hour time difference — between them and their doctors.

http://www.openpr.com MedSource Consultants, one of the nations largest physician staffing firms specializing in the placement of Radiologists, announced today the launch of MedSource Locums. The inception of this new division will provide Radiologists for Locum Tenens assignments nationwide. MedSource Consultants places Radiologists on a permanent basis with hospitals and practice groups throughout the country.

By Michael Schroeder The Journal Gazette For the first time in nearly 14 years, Medicaid providers in Indiana are getting a raise. About 5,000 primary-care physicians across the state will receive bonus payments totaling $39 million for fiscal years 2007 and 2008. (The state’s fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30.) As of […]

Ten percent of the schools’ slots will go to students dedicating their careers to the medically underserved. By Myrle Croasdale, AMNews Staff. http://www.ama-assn.org The University of California is in the midst of rolling out new educational avenues geared to produce physician leaders for communities that historically have had poor access to health care. The effort […]

By Scott E. Maizel http://www.baltimoresun.com Competition: We hear a lot about it in Maryland. The recent debate in Annapolis regarding slots was partly about competing with neighboring states for Maryland’s gambling dollars. Our ports compete with neighboring states for freight and cruise line business. Educational institutions compete with one another for the best students. Athletic […]

http://www.washingtonpost.com HealthDay News Almost half of Chicago internists say they have prescribed a placebo to a patient during their years of practice, a new study finds. A majority of doctors in the study also said they believed in the power of placebos, indicating that doctors do accept a mind-body relationship that can affect health, the […]

State to seek children eligible for insurance By Larry Carson | Sun reporter State health officials are hoping to team with Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot this spring for a statewide effort to identify more children who are eligible for federally funded health insurance. Under the plan, an outgrowth of Howard’s County’s pioneering health-access program, Franchot’s […]