Survey: Operating costs increase for physicians

Operating costs have increased across the board according to a new survey released by MGMA. The survey, which looked at the 2011 operating costs of practices found physician-owned multi-specialty practices increased 1.27 percent per full-equivalent-physician and hospitals/IDS-owned multi-specialty medical practices reported an increase of 6.45 percent per FTE physician.

Cost Survey for Multispecialty Practices

According to the survey entitled Cost Survey for Multispecialty Practices: 2012 Report Based on 2011 Data, physician-owned multi-specialty practices reported $528,182 in total operating costs per FTE physician and Hospital/IDS-owned multi-specialty medical practices reported $387,586 in total operating costs per FTE physician.

“It is almost impossible, however, to make informed business decisions and craft long-term strategies when a disastrous cut to Medicare physician payments looms on the horizon. When costs continue to increase and practice professionals are forced to conservatively plan for their future, it hinders their ability to innovate and rapidly evolve as our industry calls for transformation,” explained Susan Turney, MD, MS, FACP, FACMPE, president and chief executive officer of MGMA-ACMPE.”

Increase in drugs costs per physician, promotions, and marketing

Practices reported an increase in drugs costs per physician and a six percent increase in promotions and marketing since 2007 as well as an increase in building and occupancy charges. On the flip side, they reported a decrease in median costs for medical and surgical supplies.

Kenneth T. Hertz, FACMPE, principal, MGMA Health Care Consulting Group pointed out that areas such as marketing may be the most worthwhile for practices to invest their money in competitive marketplaces.

Survey data was gathered from more than 46,800 providers and 2,100 groups.

Practice management: Collect revenue in a timely fashion

When operating a practice, it is important to make sure you collect revenue due to you in a timely fashion in order to continue to keep a strong business operating. For tips on how to improve your revenue cycle, check out this article here. If you are a new physician, check out this article on financial mistakes new physicians make and ways to help resolve them.