News: Key drivers of physician practice acquisition include finance and policies, survey shows

About 94% of physicians find operating a practice has become more financially and administratively difficult, according to a new report from the American Hospital Association (AHA). The recent survey found that physicians attributed the need for practice acquisition to ongoing financial challenges, payer policies and practices, and demanding regulatory requirements. In effect, this has driven physicians to find alternative management avenues, HealthLeaders reported.

The AHA survey also shows that 90% of medical students report feeling unprepared or somewhat unprepared for the business side of their medical career, with final year medical students ranking hospital employment as the practice setting they are most willing to pursue.

Other key findings of the report include:

• 81% of physicians said commercial insurer policies and practices interfere with their ability to practice medicine
• 84% of employed physicians said they’ve experienced job interference from commercial payers
• 75% of physicians reported low reimbursement rates from public payers makes it more difficult to practice medicine
• 88% of physicians reported that increased prior authorization requirements are a high or extremely high burden for their practices

“Despite efforts to paint hospitals and health systems as the sole cause of physician practice pattern changes, the truth is that commercial insurance policies, such as prior authorization, are creating unworkable environments forcing physicians to prioritize administrative duties over caring for patients,” researchers concluded in the report.

Editor’s note: To read HealthLeaders’ coverage of this story, click here. To read the AHA report, click here.