It has been observed that a large number of physicians in the US are losing control over their professional lives. Increasing workload, payment cuts and rising costs of running a private practice are making them feel stressed and frustrated.
Young Physicians Opting for Financial Stability
There has been an increase in the number of young physicians deciding against running a private practice. They are already burdened with medical school debts and therefore, accepting a salaried job at hospitals or a health system with flexible working hours appears to be a tempting option to them.
Many older doctors are selling their practice and opting for a salaried hospital job because they are finding it difficult to recruit junior physicians. Today, majority of young doctors are seeking part-time jobs so that they can maintain a work-life balance. By eliminating the administrative challenges, they are focusing solely on delivering quality patient care.
What Challenges are Forcing Physicians Out of Private Practices?
The trend of opting salaried jobs in hospitals is mainly driven by the changes in government payments to the physicians and concerns over medical errors. Even EHR implementation has pushed this trend because the computerized systems are not only expensive but time consuming too. The approaching deadline for ICD-10, the updated coding system is increasing pressure on providers, especially smaller practices because significant investment will be required to sail through the changes in coding and billing.
Industry Facts
- 57% doctors owned a private practice in 2000, but it was reduced to 39% in 2012
Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements have declined for many physicians. Insurance companies are increasing regulatory burdens on practices and it is becoming difficult to get timely payments for the services physicians deliver.
Is a Salaried Job the Only Way to Survive?
If you run a private practice and are planning to close down your business due to administrative challenges, outsourcing may change your mind and also put an end to your worries. By hiring a billing partner like MedicalBillersandCoders.com, physicians across the US have been able to ensure timely payments.
MBC’s expert team of coders and billers has helped 42 medical specialties reduce claims denials, eliminate the cost of hiring and training new staff, reduce investment in health IT upgrades and ensure compliance with HIPAA too.
By outsourcing billing services, private practices can reap the following benefits:
- Access patient data anytime
- Denial management
- Financial reporting transparency
- Effective implementation of EMR / EHR
- Revenue cycle management services
- Error-free coding and billing
- Compliance to HIPAA
Since the above-mentioned areas are handled by a professional team, physicians don’t have to worry about balancing administrative and clinical tasks. They can continue focusing on patient care rather than worrying about payments, rejected claims or underpayments.
