How Do Aging Baby Boomers Affect Patient Loads in Radiation Therapy Centers?

The baby boomers are the largest and most influential demographic in U.S. history.  With an estimated 78 million people born during the period from 1946 to 1964, this generation has been credited with changing everything from fashion to social mores.  Now, they’re having a major impact on medical practices and cancer treatments.

 

With the aging of the baby boomer population, over 54 million people in the United States were over the age of 65 in 2019. The National Cancer Institute declares that increasing age is the most significant risk factor for developing cancer. While many cancer rates are actually dropping, the burgeoning elderly population is outpacing the decreases. In other words, the percentage of people getting a certain type of cancer after age 65 may be going down, but there are so many more people over the age of 65 that the total number of cases of that cancer are increasing.

 

 

 

 

 

Another factor contributing to the increase in cases is that, with improvements in treatments, patients are often surviving the first cancer diagnosis and getting second and third diagnoses of other cancers later in life. All together, researchers predict that the number of cancer cases in the United States will increase 50% by 2050.

As these baby boomers age, they’re increasingly seeking treatment for cancers that appear primarily among elderly people: lung cancer, prostate cancer and breast cancer. According to the National Health Service, an estimated fifty percent of cancer patients undergo radiation therapy as a part of treatment regimen. The increase in cancer diagnoses will certainly increase patient loads at radiation therapy centers across the country.

 

 

 

 

Medical physicists are highly-trained professionals who are a necessary part of the cancer treatment process. The profession is already experiencing a shortage of board-certified physicists. Anecdotally, lead times to recruit and fill medical physicist positions have become longer. The talent pool is decreasing and the number of open positions is increasing. Experienced, board-certified medical physicists are getting harder and harder to come by.

 

In addition to current shortages, the aging of the baby boomer generation will continue to create staffing challenges.  A whopping 10,000 Americans turn 65 every single day, approaching retirement age. Thus, baby boomers contribute both to the need for more medical physicists, and a lack thereof. 

 

 

 

Atom Physics Staffing can work with your department to provide additional medical physics capacity by bridging hiring gaps, providing remote support, offering a part-time physicist, or working with you to design a hybrid (remote plus on-site) physics solution. We can help radiation therapy centers maintain or increase patient loads by ensuring you have the staff you need to provide quality care to your patients.

 

Sources (links included above)

National Cancer Institute. “Age and Cancer Risk.” March 5, 2021. Accessed July 27, 2022. 

National Health Service. “Radiotherapy.” November 4, 2021. Accessed July 27, 2022. 

Song, Zirui. “Baby Boomers and Beds: a Demographic Challenge for the Ages.” J Gen Intern Med. December 22, 2017. Accessed July 27, 2022. 

Weir, Hannah. “Cancer Incidence Projections in the United States Between 2015 and 2050.” June 10, 2022. Accessed July 27, 2022.