We don’t need more doctors

So says Clayton M. Christensen, co-author of The Innovator’s Prescription: A Disruptive Solution for Health Care.  Clinics manned by nurse practitioners will save healthcare:

MinuteClinic, the largest chain of such retail clinics, records average patient satisfaction scores of 4.9 out of 5, while providing care that is 32 to 47 percent below the cost of primary care physicians. While the rest of the health care system only delivers about 55 percent of recommended care, MinuteClinic staff demonstrated 99.15 percent adherence to clinical guidelines in a study involving over 50,000 visits.

I guess the retail clinics run by CVS that have shut down didn’t get the memo on this.  Nor did the increasing number of Medicare patients who can’t find a primary care physician.