Ten States with the Most Primary Care Physicians

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) reports that the United States has roughly 74.5 primary care physicians for every 100,000 residents.  For HRSA purposes, primary care physicians include non-federal osteopaths and physicians who are not hospital residents and who have a declared practice specialty in General Practice, General Family Medicine, General Internal Medicine or General Pediatrics.

Per HRSA studies, The Ten States with the Most Primary Physicians, on a per capita basis, come from the Northeast as indicated here:

A more detailed examination of the underlying data reveals that outside the Northeast, the only states with top ten primary care coverage were Oregon and Minnesota.

Note:  National rank includes the District of Columbia, which is #1 nationally with 113.9 PCPs per 100,000 residents.

Ten States with the Fewest Primary Care Physicians

Based upon the most recent data analysis (December 2012) from the HRSA, in the United States there were approximately 74.5 primary care physicians for every 100,000 residents.  In HRSA studies primary care physicians include non-federal doctors and osteopaths who are not hospital residents and whose principal activity is defined as patient care.  Moreover, these doctors and osteopaths have a declared practice specialty as a General Practitioner or in General Family Medicine, General Internal Medicine or General Pediatrics.

The Ten States with the Fewest Primary Physicians, on a per capita basis, come from the South or the West as indicated here:

A more detailed examination of the underlying numbers available from the HRSA reveal Mississippi as having the fewest primary care physicians per capita of any State.  Texas and Georgia, despite being two of the ten largest population states, were among the among the Ten States with the Fewest Primary Care Physicians.  Although both states have sizable raw physician numbers, the number of primary care physicians in each state is small relative to the overall population base.

Note:  National rankings include the District of Columbia