Dr. John B. Murphy has been named vice president for medical affairs and chief medical officer at Rhode Island Hospital. He will oversee the directors of graduate medical education and adult ambulatory care and will assume the responsibilities of the chief medical officer. Murphy currently serves as the president-elect of the American Geriatrics Society. He has a B.A. from Union College and a M.D. from the State University of New York.
PBN: As the population has continued to increase in age, how have you seen geriatric care evolve over the years?
MURPHY: As the specialty has become much more refined, we’ve learned a tremendous amount of information and a great deal of research has been done. What we’ve found is that people at comparable ages are functioning at higher levels. For example, an 80-year-old today is functioning much more independently than they might have been thirty years ago. Unfortunately, the number of medical professionals going into the field has continued to decline – not just physicians, but nurses, social workers and other healthcare professionals.
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PBN: Is there one study you can mention that has greatly affected, for the positive, geriatric care?
MURPHY: I think the one study that is likely to be the most effective is one that will come out in March of this year. It is a report from the Institute of Medicine on the work force needs for older Americans. It’s an interdisciplinary report commenting on what the work force needs are across the board, and the implications for all professionals and non-professionals who are involved in the health care delivery for older Americans. We anticipate that there will be a shortage, but what we don’t know is what the report will suggest in how to deal with that shortage.
PBN: As a professor of medicine and family medicine at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, what medical trends are you noticing? And are there any that you feel might affect the business community?
MURPHY: The biggest trend is an increase and interest in sub-specialties on the part of people completing medical school and a large decrease and interest in primary care. This will have a direct result on the business community. All of the research to date suggests that improvements of quality of care and decreases in cost are related directly to the number of primary physicians in a given area. If those numbers continue to drop, we are going to see increasing costs and lower quality as well as access problems for patients. This will have a direct impact on employers in terms of both the health of their employees and the cost of insurance. ·
