Survey Shows Physicians See Good Career Opportunities in Private Practice

MedData Group, in partnership with Capko & Morgan, has released a study on physician satisfaction with various practice settings. The conclusion? Physicians seem to prefer private practice.

In September, MedData Group polled 253 physicians about their feelings on practice settings. Of those polled, 55% were a physician owner or partner and 12% were employed in independent practices. Thirty percent were employed by a hospital system. HMO Network of University.

All physicians overwhelmingly agreed that private practices offer satisfying career opportunities. Not surprisingly, over 80% of physician owners strongly or somewhat agreed this was true. In addition, 61% of employed physicians strongly or somewhat agreed.

Of the employed physicians, 20% stated that they were considering owning their own practice in the future. They believed that the biggest opportunity in in private practice was to gain more control and reduce non-physicians oversight.

All physicians agreed that there are barriers and challenges in private practice, however. The biggest challenge was seen as government interference by 31% of respondents. This mirrors others studies conducted in recent years by Physicians Practice. Their latest Great American Physician survey showed that more than 37% of physicians believed the biggest challenge to being an independent physician was government interference.

For those providers considering taking the leap into private practice there are ways to reduce the challenges. Consider these strategies:

1. Choose a single integrated medical software platform. This approach will likely save both time and money. A single system is easier to learn to use and reduces both data entry and errors, making the practice more efficient.
2. Look at outsourcing. New practices and small practices often don’t have the ability to hire the highly skilled resources needed to maximize revenue in medical billing. Outsourcing is often more affordable and effective.
3. Make sure your practice is staffed correctly. Too many or too few staff can have far reaching implications in your success. So be sure you have the right mix and size of staff for your practice size and specialty. Not sure how to gauge this? Watch this webinar on staffing hosted by Laurie Morgan.

If you are looking for more information on starting your own practice, download this helpful guide.