Matej Mikulic
Research expert covering health, pharma & medtech
U.S. physicians - statistics & facts
Over three-quarters of all U.S. physicians are now employed by a hospital, health system, or a corporate entity such as a health insurer. The move away from independent (private) practices has been occurring over the past decades but the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated it. Changes in the market, policies, but also lifestyles of physicians are driving this movement. Young physicians, wanting better work-life balance, go straight for employment out of residency. A recent survey found that 鈥渘ot having to run a small business鈥 and 鈥渁 stable income鈥 were what employed physicians liked the most about their jobs.
Are doctors well-paid for their workload?
U.S. physicians, especially specialists, are some of the most well-paid professions in the world, yet less than half felt they were fairly compensated for their work. Indeed, physicians are often encumbered with administrative tasks unrelated to direct patient care. Among the astoundingly high share of physicians with burnout, the main cause of burnout was cited as 鈥渢oo many bureaucratic tasks鈥. Besides electronic health records (EHRs), prior authorizations (PAs), which require physicians to get approval from health plans prior to medical treatments or medications, are also extremely time consuming and ate up 12 hours per week for the average physician and their staff.Physician shortage is here to stay
It is unsurprising that physicians are frustrated, and this has translated to many headed towards early retirement or exiting the field of medicine altogether. Already, the United States is seeing a large shortage of physicians: 37,000 in 2021, according to the latest estimates by the Association of American Medical Colleges. The deficiency is projected to reach upwards of 86,000 by 2036. Physicians name administrative tasks as the number one factor leading to the physician shortage. Predictably, this has contributed to the growing number of physicians opting for employment rather than pursuing private practice, to avoid the even higher bureaucracy burden of practice ownership.
