Access to health care and the delivery of quality health care to the citizens of Montana is dependent on an adequate supply of physicians.  Since Montana is a rural and frontier state, with nearly two-thirds of the population living outside of the three Metropolitan Statistical Areas (Billings, Missoula and Great Falls), primary care physicians are particularly important to rural health care delivery systems.  The 2011 Montana Medical Association Directory of Montana Physicians lists 921 primary care physicians (Family Medicine, General Practice, Internal Medicine and Pediatrics) in active practice.  Nationally, Montana ranks 36th among all states in the number of primary care physicians with 101.8 per 100,000 population.  The national average is 120.5/100,000. 

The following report – Montana Physicians in Active Practice, Number and Distribution of Physicians by Community and County – was developed through data provided in the publication of the Montana Medical Association entitled “2011 Montana Medical Association Directory of Montana Physicians.” Because of the special focus of the Montana Office of Rural Health, this report focuses on the number of primary care physicians.  In addition, the report separates the number of physicians practicing in Urban Communities (50,000 to 125,000), Large Rural Communities (15,000 to 50,000), Small Rural Communities (5,000 to 15,000), Isolated Rural Communities (2,500 to 5,000) and Frontier Communities (100 to 2,500). 

To Access Montana physician data for 2011, Click Here
2008 Report