Changes in Healthcare Utilization and Outcomes After Primary Care Physician Exit

What happens to patients when they lose their primary care physician (PCP) due to retirement or other circumstances? To answer this question, researchers used a nationally representative Medicare claims database and evaluated changes in healthcare utilization and outcomes among patients whose PCPs had left the workforce.

During the study period (2008–2017), 9500 of 91,000 PCPs exited. The 170,000 beneficiaries whose PCPs exited were matched with 190,000 beneficiaries whose PCPs did not. During the year after their PCPs exited, beneficiaries recorded 18% fewer primary care and 6% more specialty care visits than did beneficiaries whose PCPs did not exit — these differences were significant. Differences persisted during the second year. Benefic…