Average wait times for new patients to see a U. S. specialty physician have increased from 19 days in 2014 to 32 days in 2020, and are expected to reach 45-50 days by 2030. This is due to a decrease in the number of active specialists and an increase in the aging population. Of active physicians in the U.S. in 2021 (950,000), 46.7 percent were 55 or older, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges "2022 Physician Specialty Data Report."
According to the AAMC president (Dr. Darrell Kirch), “By 2030, the U.S. population aged 65 and older will grow by 28%, which makes a projected shortage especially troubling. As patients get older, they need two to three times as many services, mostly in specialty care, which is where the shortages are particularly severe.”
While wait times are increasing for many patients in the U. S., patients using nodSpecialists find they see providers MUCH faster than the national average.