Employed physicians outnumber independent physicians for the first time
According to the latest study on physician practice arrangements, conducted by the American Medical Association (AMA), more doctors today collect a paycheck from an employer compared to those still working for themselves.
Among all patient care physicians in 2018, employed physicians accounted for 47.4 percent, up 6 percentage points since 2012 compared to 45.9 percent of self-employed physicians, which is down 7 percentage points during the same time. Although the findings could be viewed as a watershed moment in healthcare, AMA says it’s been a long time coming.
“Transformational change continues in the delivery of healthcare and physicians are responding by reevaluating their practice arrangements,” said AMA President Barbara L. McAneny, MD, in the statement. “Physicians must assess many factors and carefully determine for themselves what settings they find professionally rewarding when considering independence or employment.”
Given the rate of change in the early 1990s, AMA said it appeared a point was imminent when employed physicians would outnumber self-employed physicians, but the shift took much longer than anticipated. Here is a partial list of key findings:
· The majority of patient care physicians (54.0 percent) worked in physician-owned practices in 2018 either as an owner, employee, or contractor. Although this share fell from 60.1 percent in 2012, the trend away from physician-owned practice appears to be slowing since more than half of the shift occurred between 2012 and 2014.
· Concurrently, there was an increase in the share of physicians working directly for a hospital or in a practice at least partly owned by a hospital. Physicians working directly for a hospital were 8.0 percent of all patient care physicians, an increase from 5.6 percent in 2012.
· Physicians in hospital-owned practices were 26.7 percent of all patient care physicians, an increase from 23.4 percent in 2012.
· Nearly 70 percent of physicians under age 40 were employees in 2018, compared to 38.2 percent of physicians age 55 and over.
· Among female physicians, more were employees than practice owners (57.6 percent vs. 34.3 percent). The reverse is true for male physicians, more were practice owners than employees (52.1 percent vs. 41.9 percent).
