The Primary Care Provider (PCP) profession is dying. According to The Robert Graham Center, Massachusetts is projected to be short 725 PCPs by the year 2030. This is a major issue, as according to Forbes, primary care physicians reduce a person's chance of premature death, and lower healthcare costs - the US could save 67 billion dollars if all of its citizens used a PCP as their main source of medical care. Though the profession doesn't seem as essential, it is the backbone of our healthcare and essential for keeping the American people healthy.

One major source of this issue is burnout. According to the Cicero Institute, 55% of physicians report symptoms of burnout, and 27% of them state they plan on leaving medicine by 2026. There are several factors that contribute to this burnout, but a major one is that primary care providers have too large of an administrative burden. In fact, for every hour a PCP spends face-to-face with a patient, 2 hours are spent on desk work or EHRs. This is causing the profession to die and results in a workforce shortage. This means people have to go without the benefits that come with having a primary care physician.

Please consider signing this petition and supporting this dying profession by urging hospitals to adopt support staff and more streamlined EHRs, which unburden PCPs. Additionally, you support bills like H1370, H2537, and S867 in the Massachusetts legislature, which support programs to expand the primary care workforce. With your support, we can start to rebuild the American healthcare system. Thank you!