The American College of Radiology (ACR) and the Radiology Business Management Association (RBMA) have submitted a letter to the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) regarding healthcare workforce shortages.
The letter cited a 2021 report from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) that projected that by 2034 the U.S. could experience a shortage of between 37,800 and 124,000, with shortages in "other specialties," -- including radiology -- to range from 10,300 to 35,600 physicians, the ACR said.
The ACR and the RBMA are asking Congress to pass legislation to invest in additional Medicare-funded Graduate Medical Education (GME) residency slots and to specifically designate some of these for radiology. The two organizations are also asking Congress to reintroduce the Physician Shortage Reduction Act, which would boost the number of federally supported medical residency positions by 2,000 annually for seven years, they said.
