Staffing Crisis in US Emergency Rooms: Emergency Health Insurance Doesn't Guarantee Care

Those who use an emergency health insurance plan for ER visits for minor or major medical care might have a hard time finding a board-certified emergency doctor in the future. Thousands of emergency departments are not currently staffed by ER-certified physicians, and the goal of getting one certified doctor in every US emergency room at all times may take more than a decade - even in a best-case scenario.

There are currently 22,000 board-certified emergency physicians in practice out of the 40,000 required. Some alternative staffing strategies have been suggested such as increasing reliance on nurse practitioners and physician assistants and providing extra training in emergency procedures for the many family physicians that currently staff many U.S. emergency rooms.