1. If there were a shortage of primary care physicians, what would happen to their incomes?
2. Set up a model of the demand and supply for primary care physicians. (It should have Salary on the vertical axis and Number of Primary Care Physicians on the horizontal axis.) Assuming that the production of primary care does not change (i.e., the supply curve does not shift), how do you expect the market equilibrium to change?
3. How have the incomes of primary care physicians changed in the last few years? Are these changes consistent with your prediction? (You can get income data from Medscape Physician Compensation Reports.)
4. If retail clinics and patient-centered medical homes continue to expand, how will they affect the market equilibrium? Which curve would shift as a result, demand or supply?
5. Deductibles have been rising quickly in recent years. How would that affect the incomes of primary care physicians?
6. Patient-centered medical homes typically expand the roles of registered nurses. How would this affect the demand for primary care physicians?
7. The ACA increased some payments for primary care. How would this affect the demand for primary care physicians?