Rheumatology Workforce Planning in Western Countries: A Systematic Literature Review

Dejaco, Christian; Lackner, Angelika; Buttgereit, Frank; Matteson, Eric L.; Narath, M.; Sprenger, Martin

doi:10.1002/acr.22894

Cited by 31 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Results from the literature have shown that there are only a few scientific publications dealing with workforce in rheumatology thus far (1,6,8). A current review from Dejaco et al (1) about workforce planning in Western countries, included 14 scientific publications from 5 different countries. Research was heterogeneous concerning methods, investigated time periods and variables used for the calculation of manpower requirements.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a report from 2012, the European Commission foresaw a substantial "gap in supply of human resources in health by 2020" 1 . Several reports, in various European countries, have tried to estimate the number of available rheumatologists (1). Due to the aging population, the prevalence of rheumatic musculoskeletal diseases (RMD), be they inflammatory or noninflammatory, in the general population is expected to increase substantially.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, in the past decade, highly effective drugs have been developed for the treatment of inflammatory rheumatic diseases, which call for expert knowledge in their prescription and monitoring of therapy. The implementation of early referrals to specialists and the "treat to target" strategy, which aims to achieve remission or at least low disease activity, require a more stringent surveillance of patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases (1)(2)(3)(4).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the current supply of rheumatologists and, in particular, how much time these specialists are able to provide care for patients with rheumatic problems, has not been studied in detail. Currently available data has relied mostly on "head counts" of rheumatologists in various countries (1). These head counts neglect (i) various work-time models (e.g., part time employment), and (ii) the fact that frequently, only part of the work-time is dedicated to rheumatology, as a substantial amount of time from each individual rheumatologist is required for care of patients with non-rheumatic diseases and other professional functions, such as research, teaching, and administration.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

The Supply of Rheumatology Specialist Care in Real Life. Results of a Nationwide Survey and Analysis of Supply and Needs

Puchner

Vavrovsky²,

Pieringer³

et al. 2020

Front. Med.

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Objectives: To study the balance between the supply and need for rheumatology care in Austria. In addition, to investigate rheumatologists' work-hours, the amount of time rheumatologists dedicate to care for patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMD), with non-RMD problems, and other professional activities such as research, teaching, and administration.Methods: A questionnaire covering aspects of professional activities was sent to all 215 rheumatologists registered with the Austrian Medical Association. The data collected was set in relation to the need calculated on the basis of recommendations put forward by the German society of rheumatology.Results: 149 of the 215 rheumatologists (69.0%) responded. Median weekly working time was 50 h (IQR 45-60). 47.4% of the working time was spent for care of patients with RMD. The remaining time was dedicated to patients with non-rheumatic diseases (19.6%), research and teaching (8.4%), and administration (24.5%). The number of full-time equivalents (FTE, based on a 40-h work-week) available for rheumatology care, thus, was calculated to be 178.5. Based on disease prevalence/incidence estimates and on the time allocation results of this survey, our study resulted in a need of 4.29 rheumatologists per 100.000 adult inhabitants (301.79 for an adult population of 7.03 × 10 6 ). Conclusion:The study demonstrated a substantial mismatch between the available supply and the need for rheumatology care. The results of our study are a conservative estimate, which should be taken into consideration for future healthcare workforce planning. In particular, the rising need for rheumatologists should be met by increasing the numbers of those specialists.

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