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“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 study shows 60 percent of physicians in physician-owned practices, there has been a trend toward more hospital employment during the last five 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.
For more news from the AMA, see the Psychiatric News articles, "AMA's Psychiatrist President Hails Involvement of APA" and "AMA Releases Insurer Report Card, Award Innovative Schools."
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