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The number of geriatric clinicians improved, but it still has not met the growing demand.
Geriatric Clinicians
Geriatricians and geriatric nurse practitioners are trained to meet the unique needs of older adults. Geriatric clinicians are suited to treat aging-related diseases, such as dementia, incontinence and osteoporosis, and can be helpful when an older person is coping with multiple chronic conditions or managing multiple medications.
The growing older adult population in the U.S. is currently outpacing the number of geriatric clinicians needed to meet demand. Projections estimate a shortage of nearly 5,000 geriatricians by 2030. To address this shortfall, graduate nursing programs are training nurse practitioners to perform outpatient care for older adults. Other approaches to bolstering the geriatrician workforce include investing in training and ensuring medical curricula and residency training programs dedicate adequate time and attention to geriatrics, plus offering financial incentives like loan forgiveness and scholarships for students who train to become geriatricians.
Changes over time. Nationally, the number of family medicine and internal medicine geriatricians and geriatric nurse practitioners per 100,000 adults age 65 and older increased 4% from 36.4 to 38.0 between 2022 and 2023. In 2023, there were 21,944 geriatric clinicians, 1,600 more than in 2022. Between 2022 and 2023, the rate of geriatric clinicians increased in 25 states and the District of Columbia by 4% or more (equal to or greater than the national change), led by: 11% in Tennessee (29.0 to 32.3 clinicians per 100,000 adults age 65 and older), 10% in Oregon (27.7 to 30.4), Nevada (33.6 to 36.9) and Kentucky (25.1 to 27.5), and 9% in Missouri (36.5 to 39.8) and Delaware (30.7 to 33.5).
Disparities. The number of geriatric clinicians was 5.5 times higher in the District of Columbia (97.4 clinicians per 100,000 adults age 65 and older), and 3.9 times higher in Rhode Island (68.3), than in South Dakota (17.7) in 2023.
