ABSTRACT
The combination of the personnel trends with the demographic aging of the population means that both acute but also chronic care will have to be delivered through different modes including other clinicians in addition to physicians. Medical personnel supply policy can help the nation’s health care system to adjust to the new challenges that technology and demography present it. Most physicians see themselves as the medical leadership profession and are disinclined to enter into a shared team responsibility for patient care with non-physician clinicians. Admittedly, some chronic patients are more or less immobile and would require transportation to a hospital or clinical center for more elaborate work-up, assessment, or treatment. If the patient develops an acute condition he or she is likely to be assisted to visit a physician in an office, clinic, or hospital for more definitive assessment and treatment.
