According to a recent survey by The Medicus Firm, physicians feel reimbursement, EMRs, and hospital employment are the key factors limiting physician pay.

The survey, entitled 2013 Physician Practice Preference and Relocation Survey was conducted with over 2,500 doctors, revealing several workforce trends and practice preferences.

Compensation seemed to be a troubling area for many physicians. When asked what they feel limits their income the most, 30.3% of physicians selected “declining reimbursements” from a list of several factors.

16.4% of physicians answered “other” as the second highest response when asked what limits their income the most. The most common reasons submitted as to what limits physician pay were “hospital employment” and “EMR”. Physicians expressed frustration with the limits of hospital contracts and pay structures. About a third of the write-in responses to that question were devoted to physicians expressing the following frustrations with EMRs:

1. Too much time spent on activities related to implementing, learning, training, and using EMR.

2. Time spent negatively impacted the amount of (billable) productive/clinical time they could spend with patients.

3. Reduces productive face-time with patients.

Many physicians reported flat or declining income, but a few specialties experienced some income growth, such as hospitalists, emergency medicine, ob/gyn, and general surgery.

For a copy of the complete report, please visit www.TheMedicusFirm.com

Featured image source: Medicus Firm

Featured image credit: HITConsultant.net