Physician supply in key medical specialties in West Virginia hospitals, 2001-2004.

This article describes the development, implementation and analysis of an ongoing prospective physician supply survey of the largest acute care hospitals in West Virginia. This survey was designed to assess changes in availability of physicians in key specialties from 2001-2004, a period of years that included a "malpractice insurance crisis." The malpractice crisis in this article describes the period of time in 2001-2002 when medical malpractice insurance rates increased abruptly in West Virginia and a number of physicians publicized their departure from practice in the state. We calculated the absolute and relative percentage change in the median number of physicians in each specialty between 2001-2004, calculated percentage change for each specialty by year, and performed univariate analysis on the percentage changes among all hospitals. We also calculated univariate analysis on the percentage changes among all hospitals. The median number of staff physicians in these hospitals declined steadily from 2001-2004. Declines in the number of specialists (some statistically significant) occurred, especially early in the three-year period, notably among surgical specialties. The availability of nephrologists increased significantly from 2003-2004. Decreases in staff physician numbers may have leveled off, but there is no evidence of sustained growth.