50 statistics on physicians today — Compensation, retirement, malpractice insurance & private practice outlook

Practice Management

Here are 50 statistics on physicians in private practice, hospital employment and other arrangements about their financial situation and outlook for the future.

Patient volume & collections trends
According to a Jackson Healthcare report:

 

1. 62 percent of physicians who saw income decreased in the past year say billing and collections from insurance companies has become more difficult.

 

2. 61 percent of physicians who saw income decrease in the past year say billing and collections from patients has become more difficult; 34 percent of surgeons who saw income increase said the same.

 

3. 50 percent of physicians who saw income decrease in the past year said Medicare billing and collections has become more difficult; 30 percent of those who saw income increase said the same.

 

4. 77 percent of physicians who saw income decrease last year feel patients are delaying services, procedures and electives; 49 percent of those who saw income increase said the same.

 

5. 59 percent of physicians with an income decrease in the past year report patients are doing more cost-comparative shopping for medical services; 39 percent of those with an income increase said the same.

 

6. 45 percent of physicians who saw income increase last year say the outlook for a career in medicine is favorable.

 

7. 91 percent of physicians with an income increase last year definitely plan to practice medicine throughout 2014; 74 percent of physicians whose income decreased said the same.

 

8. 41 percent of physicians who had income increase in the past year said they have new partnerships with insurers, hospitals and local companies to care for their patients; 32 percent of physicians with income decreases said the same.

 

9. 40 percent of physicians who saw income increase from last year use physician assistants; 28 percent of physicians who saw income decrease said the same.

 

10. 26 percent of the physicians who had income increase report adding patients in 2014 who obtained insurance through the health insurance exchanges; 16 percent who saw income decrease said the same.

 

Orthopedic surgeon practice setting
The 2012 American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Orthopaedic Surgeon Census shows:

 

11. 44 percent of orthopedic surgeons are in a private practice orthopedic group.

 

12. 18 percent of the orthopedic surgeons are solo practitioners.

 

13. 9 percent of the orthopedic surgeons are in a multispecialty group private practice.

 

14. 9 percent of the orthopedic surgeons were in academic practice earning a salary from the academic institution.

 

15. 9 percent of the orthopedic surgeons earned a salary from a hospital or medical center.

 

16. 3 percent of the orthopedic surgeons were in academic practice but received salary from a private practice.

 

17. 2 percent of orthopedic surgeons earned a salary from an HMO.

 

Hospital contract arrangements
The American Hospital Association Statistics 2012 Edition shows these arrangements for physician groups aligned with hospitals:

 

18. 55 percent were not employed or under contract.

 

19. 20 percent had a group contract.

 

20. 7 percent had individual contracts.

 

Orthopedic surgeon compensation
Medscape's Orthopedist Compensation Report 2014 shows:

 

21. Employed orthopedic surgeon average compensation was $388,000 last year.

 

22. Compensation for self-employed orthopedic surgeons was $439,000.

 

23. Office-based multispecialty group practice orthopedic surgeons had the highest compensation, at $459,000.

 

24. Office-based single-specialty group practice orthopedic surgeons received $442,000 in compensation on average last year.

 

25. Office-based solo practice orthopedic surgeons received $348,000 in compensation.

 

26. Orthopedic surgeons in the Northwest region of the country reported compensation at $468,000.

 

27. Orthopedic surgeons in the Great Lakes region reported $449,000 in compensation.

 

28. In the Southeastern region, orthopedic surgeons reported $432,000 on average.

 

29. In the Northeast region, orthopedic surgeons made on average $410,000.

 

30. The Southwest region of the country has average orthopedic surgeon compensation at $408,000.

 

Pay-for-performance, malpractice insurance, private practice outlook
The Physicians Practice 2014 Physician Compensation Survey shows:

 

31. 65.3 percent of physicians don't have compensation tied to value provided.

 

32. 8.2 percent of physicians say around 1 to 5 percent of their compensation is tied to value.

 

33. 5.2 percent of physicians say 6 percent to 10 percent of their compensation is tied to value.

 

34. 9.5 percent of physicians say 11 percent to 50 percent of their compensation is tied to value.

 

35. 11.8 percent of physicians say more than half of their compensation is tied to value provided.

 

36. 45.4 percent of physicians pay up to $7,000 annually for malpractice insurance.

 

37. 22.2 percent of physicians pay between $7,000 and $10,000 annually for malpractice insurance.

 

38. 17.9 percent of physicians pay between $10,000 and $15,000 annually for malpractice insurance.

 

39. 9.4 percent of physicians pay between $15,000 and $20,000 annually for malpractice insurance.

 

40. 5.1 percent of physicians pay more than $20,000 annually for malpractice insurance.

 

41. 12.1 percent of physician practice owners plan to retire in the next five years.

 

42. 50.5 percent of physician practice owners plan to continue running their practice over the next five years.

 

Retirement savings
The 2014 Employed Physicians Financial Preparedness Report shows:

 

43. 45 percent of physicians 40 years old or younger have less than $100,000 saved for retirement; 5 percent of those 56 years old to 69 years old have the same.

 

44. 41 percent of physicians 40 years old or younger have $100,000 to $500,000 saved for retirement; 11 percent of surgeons 56 years old to 69 years old have the same.

 

45. 5 percent of physicians 40 years old or younger have $100,000 to $500,000 saved for retirement; 44 percent of surgeons 56 years old to 69 years old have the same.

 

46. 17 percent of physicians between the ages of 56 and 69 years old have more than $3 million saved for retirement.

 

47. 42 percent of physicians are behind where they'd like to be with retirement savings; 8 percent report being ahead of schedule.

 

48. 81 percent of physicians report having a 401K.

 

49. 50 percent of physicians report having a traditional IRA; 34 percent have a Roth IRA.

 

50. 25 percent of physicians have a simplified employee pension plan.

 

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