New Orleans Physician-Patient Ratio Back To Pre-Katrina Levels; Access Problems Persist, Report Says

Main Category: Primary Care / General Practice
Also Included In: Aid / Disasters
Article Date: 03 Oct 2007 - 10:00 PDT

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Two years after Hurricane Katrina, the ratio of physicians to residents in the New Orleans area is about the same as it was before the storm, but patients still have trouble accessing health care, according to a BlueCross BlueShield of Louisiana report released on Monday, the Baton Rouge Advocate reports.

BlueCross President and CEO Gery Barry said some doctors have a large number of patients, while others have patient loads "just not as full as they could be." Barry noted that three-fourths of residents have returned to Orleans, Jefferson, Plaquemine and St. Bernard parishes, and according to BlueCross, the same percentage of doctors and specialists are practicing in the area as were before the hurricane.

However, the loss of 25% of physicians in the region has disrupted referral patterns, and patients might not be able to find the doctors they had before the hurricane, while primary care physicians may have trouble finding specialists to treat their patients. Barry said, "Basically, what's needed is some way of coordinating among the providers information about who's there, who can take patients, and so on" because "they're kind of guessing in the dark."

According to Barry, the report also shows that area doctors are not being reimbursed for treating uninsured patients. He added that state money for the uninsured should go to efforts to redevelop clinical capacity, to prevent doctors from becoming discouraged and leaving the area. The report supports a proposal from the Louisiana State Health Care Redesign Collaborative and the Coalition of Leaders for Louisiana Health Care that would redirect charity money to health coverage for residents, rather than relying on the previous charity-care model (Griggs, Baton Rouge Advocate, 10/1).

Gubernatorial Campaign
The New Orleans Times-Picayune on Sunday examined health care issues that will play a role in Louisiana's gubernatorial elections. The "changes started under [Gov. Kathleen Blanco (D)] remain incomplete, and the much-discussed effort to rebuild a replacement for Charity Hospital in New Orleans is still in its infancy," the Times-Picayune reports. According to the Times-Picayune, budget problems "that have bedeviled previous administrations" likely will return before the next governor's term is over, and "there is widespread agreement that Louisiana cannot cover the uninsured without incurring substantial new costs." The Times-Picayune also profiles major gubernatorial candidates' stances on health care and their plans for the state health care system (Moller, New Orleans Times-Picayune, 9/30).

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