At Tina Philip’s private family practice clinic in Round Rock, the staff is just her and her office coordinator.
They know their patients. Some have grown up with them. One has already become a doctor.
Philip and her coordinator, Kennette Sheriff, know to schedule more time with a patient who is talkative or more medically complex. They also know how to coordinate care with the specialists their patients might see.
Philip is increasingly a rarity: a primary care physician in private practice.
Texas currently does not have enough primary care physicians, and the shortage is expected to worsen as older doctors retire, fewer medical school graduates choose primary care and many independent physicians leave private practice because of shrinking reimbursements and rising costs.
Read the full article at Austin American-Statesman