Physician Employment - What are the Implications?

Dear Colleagues:

I would like to share with you some interesting data about physician employment. This is relevant to the future that awaits all of us. This is a post from Dr. Bricker and AHealthcareZ, Dr. Eric Bricker gives a great YouTube presentation of the implications of this reality. I follow his posts and videos, and you may want to as well. You can find him on LinkedIn.

Kind Regards,

Jon “JP” Warner MD

Founder, CSS

70% of Doctors are Now Employed by Hospitals, Private Equity Firms and Insurance Companies.

Conversely, Only 30% of Doctors are Independent, Which is a Major Drop from 20 Years Ago when 57% of Doctors Were Independent.

Breakdown of the 70%:

--50% of Doctors are Employed by Hospital Systems

--20% of Doctors are Employed by Private Equity Firms or Insurance Companies.

More Specifically, for Primary Care Physicians:

Hospital Systems Want to Employ Primary Care Physicians (PCPs) So They Can Drive PCP Referrals to Their Own Specialists, Who Will Then Order a lot of Tests and Procedures within Their Facilities.

These PCP Referrals Are Becoming MORE Important Because Referrals Are Done Much More Frequently Today...

In 1999, 4.8% of PCP Visits Resulted in a Referral.

In 2018, 18% of PCP Visits Resulted in a Referral.

It Went from 1 in 20 Visits to 1 in 5!