Physicians
in Private Practice say they are struggling financially when compared with others who are employed
peers but the sacrifice is worth the
autonomy. QuantiaMD, an online Physician Community, and Carecloud, a
cloud-based health IT vendor, conducted a survey of more than 5,000 Physicians and
found 36% predicting a negative profitability trend during the next year,
compared with 22% who said it would be positive and 30% who said it would stay
the same.
There have been many studies looking at how
physicians are able to meet requirements for the EHR Meaningful use incentiveprogram . But while the concerns are plentiful, more than 60% of Physicians who
own their practices say they would not consider selling. Cardiologists were
among the most pessimistic about their financial futures, with 49% saying their
financial trend will be “somewhat” or “very” negative in the next year
.
Still,
44% of those who own their own practices have no interest in selling even
though there seems to be a clear financial motivation to do so. Annual
compensation survey determined independent cardiologists earn an average of 26%
less than those in integrated practices. For
physicians in other specialties, the price of independence may not be money but
time — or it could be both.