Physician's Practice - November 2008 - (Page 44)

FINANCE Women tend to stick with the same practice longer than men, with about one in 10 female physicians reporting she’s been in her current practice for 11 to 15 years, compared to just 3.23 percent of male physicians. Men, of course, dominate the “21-plus years” tenure category at 33.87 percent (women: 1.92 percent), but that has much to do with how male-dominated this ﬁeld used to be. But that’s all changed. “The ranks of the younger primary-care docs are dominated by women; that’s where primary care is headed,” says Mosley. “According to the AMA, they’re less productive. They’re not lazy; they have a different methodology.” They also have much to do beyond doctoring. Mary Craig, a primary-care physician with Jarrettsville Family Care in Jarrettsville, Md., has been practicing medicine for 10 years. She works a 30-hour workweek — on paper — at the twophysician practice, which is owned by another female physician, Linda Walsh. Jarrettsville Family Care is the only primary-care practice in this small town (pop. 2,750), so of course they’re quite busy. Unfortunately, like everywhere else, reimbursements sag while expenses HOW BUSY ARE YOU? TOO BUSY NOT BUSY ENOUGH AS BUSY AS I WANT Specialty Family Practice 2006 29.8% 2007 2008 2006 12% 2007 16.7% 2008 9.01% 2006 58.2% 2007 2008 36.7% 24.32% 46.4% 66.67% Internal Medicine Pediatrics Average 31.7% 24.1% 38.1% 40.48% 25.9% 26.56% 13.7% 13.3% 3.57% 53.2% 61.2% 48.6% 55.95% 51.9% 45.31% 14.7% 22.2% 28.13% 13.47% 17.4% 13.57% 28.53% 33.57% 30.45% 57.53% 49.03% 55.98% PRIMARY CARE SUPPLY AND DEMAND About a third of all U.S. doctors — those who focus on primary care — ﬁeld half of the nation’s annual ofﬁces visits. And between 1980 and 2003, those visits have increased by 40 percent, says the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey. So it’s safe to say yes, you’re needed. But how much, exactly? Well, that’s less certain. Kurt Mosley, vice president of business operations for national recruiting ﬁrm Merritt, Hawkins & Associates, believes the need to be signiﬁcant and growing. Incoming requests to Merritt, Hawkins for primary-care docs have increased more than 150 percent in the past ﬁve years, from 341 in 2004/2004 to 878 in 2007/2008. “Primary care is back with a vengeance,” says Mosley. Our own survey shows that many of today’s physicians are getting pinged by employment head-hunters. Nearly half of those surveyed (47.2 percent) are contacted between one and ﬁve times per month; about a ﬁfth receive phone calls or e-mails regarding availability six to 10 times a month; 15.3 percent ﬁeld recruiter calls 11 to 20 times each month. And for 7.54 percent, such calls are a near-daily experience (21-plus calls per month). Other studies put the primary-care supply well below the demand waterline as well. The American Academy of Family Physicians estimates a 39 percent increased need for primary care by 2020. And the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Administration (HRSA), which recently published physician supply and demand projections to 2020, projects supply at just over 271,400 physicians and demand rates topping 337,000. These estimates do come with some signiﬁcant caveats: Much depends on hardto-pin-down factors, such as technological advances, the inﬂux of nonphysician providers, public expectations, and policy changes. HHS suggests that the need for certain specialists (such as cardiologists and urologists) will rise disproportionately to other specialists, due to the proliferation of citizenry over age 65. Such a demand for specialists could possibly outpace the need for primary-care physicians. One area in primary care that seems less rosy than others in terms of job outlook is pediatrics. Again, conﬂicting trends come into play. “[The supply of] pediatricians has increased,” says Mosley. “I wouldn’t say there’s a glut, but it’s adequate.” U.S. Census ﬁgures back him up. Between 1981 and 2004, the pediatric work force more than doubled. Meanwhile, the birthrate sank a bit, from 15.8 live births per 1,000 persons to 14.1. At the other end, we’re getting older as a population. Today, people aged 65-plus comprise roughly 12 percent of the population; by 2050, that ﬁgure will nearly double at 22 percent. Children, who make up about a quarter of the current U.S. population now, will continue to occupy this same fraction of the whole until at least the half-way mark through this century. FINANCIAL VIABILITY IN THE NEXT 1-3 YEARS 3.57% Poor. I may have to close my doors in the next few years. 19.29% Shaky. I’m working harder just to maintain my income. 50% Mixed. My practice is not growing signiﬁcantly/or my proﬁt margins are narrower than I’d like. 27.14% Robust. My practice is thriving and my margins are solid. 44 | PHYSICIANS PRACTICE | NOVEMBER 2008 WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM http://WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Physician's Practice - November 2008

Physician's Practice - November 2008 Contents Death of Solo Practice Just a Myth Letters HSAy What? Noteworthy Finding Lost Revenue: The Search for Billing and Coding Gold Getting More: Our Annual Physician Compensation Survey ’Tis the Season to be Neutral Ask the Experts Evaluating Paperless Labs HR in a Box? The Guide Coding Third-Party Audits on the Rise Branding the Cash-Only Practice Intra-Office Tug-of-Wars Stickin‘ Up For Yourself Classifieds Advertiser Index

Physician's Practice - November 2008

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