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Changes in primary care workforce to have little effect on retirement age

PCPs tend to retire in their mid-60s, with relatively small differences across sex, practice location and time, suggesting that composition changes in the primary care workforce will not have a significant effect of future retirement ages, according to data published in the Annals of Family Medicine.

PCPs tend to retire in their mid-60s, with relatively small differences across sex, practice location and time, suggesting that composition changes in the primary care workforce will not have a significant effect of future retirement ages, according to data published in the Annals of Family Medicine.

“The expansion of medical school enrollment and residency programs in the 1960s through 1980s has led to more ‘baby boomer’ physicians reaching retirement,” Stephen M. Petterson, PhD, of the Robert Graham Center, Policy Studies in Family Medicine and Primary Care, in Washington, D.C., and colleagues wrote. “This finding coincides with a minimally increasing output of physicians and an anticipated growth in demand due to a growing and aging population and to the effects of the Affordable Care Act. Given concerns about the shortage of primary care physicians, retirement is a matter of increasing concern.”

To determine the ages when the majority of PCPs retire, and to compare this with the retirement ages among other specialties, the researchers conducted a descriptive study based on AMA Physician Masterfile data from 2010 to 2014. The 2014 Masterfile included 77,987 clinically active PCPs, between the ages of 55 and 80 years. The researchers also compared 2008 Masterfile data with that of the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System to calculate an adjustment for upward bias in retirement ages when only using the Masterfile.

Retirement was defined as leaving clinical practice. The primary outcome was the creation of a retirement curve, with secondary outcomes including comparisons of retirement interquartile ranges (IQRs) by sex and practice location across specialties.

According to the researchers, the median retirement age for all PCPs who left clinical practice from 2010 to 2014 was 64.9 years (IQR, 61.4 to 68.3). The median retirement age from any activity was 66.1 years (IQR, 62.6 to 69.5). Retirement ages remained generally similar across primary care specialties, no matter how they were measured. Women retired at a median of 1 year earlier than men. In addition, there were no substantive differences in retirement ages between rural and urban PCPs.

“Addressing the primary care physician shortage has led us to a better understanding of the customary retirement age range,” Petterson and colleagues wrote. “Strategies to lengthen careers would be worthwhile for policy makers to explore. Quality-of-life accommodations such as a reduction in full-time work, weekend work, or on-call requirements are important to factor into those strategies.” – by Jason Laday

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.