Few primary care physicians provide longer-acting birth control methods

In this analysis, the researchers found that a physician’s characteristics - including their clinical specialty, age, gender and the Medicaid expansion status of their state - were associated with both providing any contraceptive care and with the number of beneficiaries provided contraceptive care.

This study suggests that ensuring access to contraceptive services among Medicaid beneficiaries may require policy and program approaches tailored to different physician specialties. For example, primary care doctors from certain specialties would need more training to provide the full scope of contraceptive care to their patients.

The authors hence concluded that by studying the primary care workforce that provides contraceptive care to this population, the research helps shed light on important factors that predict access to these critical health services.

Reference:

Few Medicaid-participating primary care physicians providing longer-acting birth control methods; JAMA Health Forum.