Arkansas in Top Five Best States to Practice
For more than a decade, Physicians Practice has examined practice conditions in every U.S. state, ranking the best states for physicians to either set up their own shop or become employed.
It is an often duplicated exercise by other publications, but an important one nonetheless.
With rising rates of physician burnout, changing state legislation governing healthcare, and numerous other factors weighing heavily on the profession, many doctors are looking for a change to continue practicing medicine. And for some, a change of location is sometimes the answer.
So this year, as we’ve done in the past, we’ve scoured publicly available data on everything from how expensive it is to live in a state to how many peers also call that location home. We then use an algorithm to “rank” the states that have the most attractive features for physicians.
METHODOLOGY
For our 2017 analysis, we utilized the latest data for cost of living, tax climate (state collections per capita), physician density, and Medicare’s Geographic Practice Cost Index (which adjusts physician reimbursement based on regional variation in the cost to treat patients).
For the second year in a row, we partnered with Doximity to utilize their “Residency Navigator” to tell us post-residency retention rate by state, from one to nine years following completion of residency training.
This year, we also partnered with medical malpractice specialists Cunningham Group for malpractice premium averages. And these are true averages as every physician knows malpractice premiums can vary by specialty and the specific city you practice in.
What our metrics don’t capture are things like collegiality of the healthcare community, the local arts and entertainment scene, or access to various recreational activities. So to add a little more commentary to the numbers, Physicians Practice spoke to physicians in the five states that ranked the highest this year in terms of being physician friendly. They are (in order): Mississippi, Texas, Alaska, California, and Arkansas.
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ARKANSAS
Amy Cahill, MD, was born and raised in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and it’s currently where she practices medicine. For the past 18 years, Cahill has owned and operated Genesis Center for Women, located on the campus of Jefferson Regional Medical Center, and she can’t imaging leaving the state.
From the close family ties—her parents live less than a mile away—to her 10-minute commute to the nearest fishing lake, she plans to stay in The Natural State for a while. “If I want to make [hospital rounds], I walk to the hospital from my office,” says Cahill. “Less travel time makes for more life time.”
In this year’s rankings, Arkansas finished in the top 10 in terms of physician density, cost of living and residency retention, all things Cahill demonstrates. She left Pine Bluff for 12 years to study down the road in Little Rock at the University of Arkansas and says her small state allows her to know many of her colleagues and patients extremely well.
She currently serves as the president of the Arkansas Medical Society, making connections there with peers as well as working with state legislators. Cahill notes that several politicians on the state level are either physicians or physician spouses. “We have a very good relationship with the state legislature and they actually ask us for our opinions on bills,” she says. “Together, we’ve created a climate that is more about helping patients than business.”
And if any doctors are looking for time in the great outdoors or a collegial place to practice medicine, Cahill says there’s still opportunity in Arkansas.
“We have a pretty significant number of hospital-employed doctors, but you can still be [in private practice] and do just fine,” she says. “We work hard to maintain a very physician-friendly climate so that it is possible to succeed in all practice environments.”