Private practice medicine remains strong despite increase in hospital employment
CHICAGO–(ENEWSPF)–September 17, 2013. The American Medical Association (AMA) today released new data
on physician practice arrangements showing that private practice medicine remains strong despite an increase in hospital employment. This is the first nationally representative study of physician practice arrangements in five years.
“To paraphrase Mark Twain, the reports of the death of private practice medicine have been greatly exaggerated,” said AMA President Ardis Dee Hoven, M.D. “This new data shows that while there has been an increase in hospital employment, more than half of physicians (53.2 percent) were self-employed in 2012, and 60 percent worked in practices wholly owned by physicians. Needed innovation in payment and delivery reform must recognize the wide range of practice types and sizes that exist today so all physicians can participate in the move to a more patient-centered system that rewards high-quality care and reduces costs.”
While this new study shows 60 percent of physicians in physician-owned practices, there has been a trend toward more hospital employment during the last 5 years. In 2012, 29 percent of physicians worked either directly for a hospital (5.6 percent) or for a practice that was at least partially owned by a hospital (23.4 percent). A 2007/2008 AMA survey did not distinguish between direct hospital employment and employment in a hospital-owned practice, but found that 16.3 percent of physicians worked in one of the two settings.
Other important findings include:
The percentage of physicians who were practice owners in 2012 decreased 8 percentage points from 2007/2008.
Eighteen percent of physicians were in solo practice, down 6 percentage points over 5 years.
Single specialty practice was the most common practice type in 2012, accounting for 45.5 percent of physicians.
This study is part of the AMA’s Policy Research Perspective (PRP) series, which is available online.
Source: http://www.ama-assn.org
