Physicians own fewer and fewer practices while hospitals are taking them over at a rapid clip, according to six years of survey data from the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA). You can see how these two trends appear to correlate in this chart, courtesy of the MGMA. We're running our own Part B News survey on this same topic, which I'd love for you to take (it's just a five-minute survey).
The data shows that these trends were relatively stable from 2002 to 2005, with sudden, sharp changes beginning at the end of 2005 and continuing through 2008. Any one of a number of Medicare changes could be behind this trend -- one timely example is the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, which implemented multiple procedure payment cuts for services like diagnostic imaging and Mohs micrographic surgery.
The reasons for merging aren't limited to declining, specialty-specific Medicare payments; there's also the issue of years of uncertainty over an overall Medicare physician pay cut as mandated by the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula.
The real question: How has your practice been impacted by these trends? Are your physicians thinking about merging with local groups or selling out to a hospital? Take our practice merger survey and we'll share the results, plus offer tips for making a data-driven decision on merging, in a future Part B News story.