Research published in the Annals of Family Medicine suggests that practice patterns acquired at the physician’s training institution have lasting effects.
A Merritt Hawkins survey finds that physician wait times for appointments are increasing and Medicaid acceptance rates are declining.
A study in the Annals of Internal Medicine finds no real quality benefit from hospital employment of physicians.
New research suggests that use of scorecards can help reduce the overall costs of surgeries.
A study in Health Affairs finds that patients who use lower-cost primary care physicians have lower overall health spending.
Yet another extensive physician survey reveals deep dissatisfaction.
Notwithstanding hospitals’ claims to the contrary, their employment of physicians appears to do nothing to improve quality.
Research carried in Health Affairs confirms that physician practices have consolidated rapidly in recent years.
Another study finds that live human doctors do much, much better at diagnosing than do symptom checker apps.
http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/it/face-off-human-doctors-more-accurate-than-symptom-checker-apps?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiTnpNMk1UQXlaakpqTmpRdyIsInQiOiJRSXZVZ0JTcDd3U3N0RUppR0UrRTlKNGRNTFozQWNNNEMyRzNRU0VyNHYwM3F2Z3BNTVlOclQ0VDR0QWhnc1VPdGhlXC9CS2Z1UFg5cFBQVE9obzZSWnBkamlKMFRvRG5raEZuVHFDVEhYcFU9In0%3D&mrkid=635530&utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internalDeloitte surveyed a number of physicians on EHR use, finding that about half think they help with clinical outcomes, but the majority saying that EHRs raise practice costs and reduce productivity.
http://www.healthcare-informatics.com/news-item/ehr/physician-survey-ehrs-increase-practice-costs-little-improvement-clinical-outcomesAnother physician survey focuses on specialist physicians’ views of and plans for the future.
A survey from the MGMA finds that revenues were down in 2015 for both independent and health system-owned physician practices, with group practices losing over $13,000 per physician and health systems supposedly losing over $200,000 per doctor.
http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/practices/2015-revenues-down-among-practices-healthcare-systems?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWldRd05EaG1OMlF6TjJWbCIsInQiOiJ4VDRpT1wvamRGajg4emw4RG4yVFUyYU4zQ3FIUE9BTEU1VDZaRDNtRXJSbDZWRWxnbUtLSXM0V3E0SitCRVBNclwvMkFSYklIdUduRFFmdUZnRDc1Z1ppMzVqT1hRQWt3ZW5wUTRLcXVXTUIwPSJ9&mrkid=635530&utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internalHealth Affairs research finds that in a large urban area there can be significant shortfalls in primary care access that disproportionately affect minorities.
Another paper from NBER provides interesting insight into how physician practice patterns arise.