Recent survey findings indicate physicians involved with accountable care organizations are usually younger, are more likely to be employed by a hospital than have a private practice and have an overall positive outlook about careers in medicine.
According to Jackson Healthcare's annual Physician Practice Trends Survey of 2014, the number of physicians participating in ACOs has increased significantly since the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in 2012. While the increase in physicians who participate in ACOs reflects the PPACA's overarching goal of improving population health, only 49 percent of primary care and internal medicine generalist reported they plan to participate in the exchanges.
Survey findings indicate that physicians who are involved in an ACO are likely to:
- Practice in urban areas (42 percent) and in the Midwest (23 percent)
- Be younger than 54 years old (54 percent)
- Report no change in income since 2013 (48 percent)
- Be on a call rotation (67 percent)
- Work more than 10 hours per day (65 percent)
- Use nurse practitioners (46 percent) and physician assistants (38 percent)
- See patients in a hospital for non-emergency, non-surgical care (51 percent)
- Describe the outlook for a career in medicine in 2014 is favorable (31 percent) and be likely to encourage a young person to enter the field of medicine (60 percent)
- Describe their practice as hospital employment (33 percent) or as a single or multi-specialty practice that is owned by a hospital or health system (23 percent)
- Have never worked in a private practice if they are currently employed by a hospital (50 percent)
Physicians who do not associate with any ACOs are likely to:
- Practice in the Southeast (33 percent)
- Be older than 55 (54 percent)
- Say their income has decreased over the past year (48 percent)
- Not take call (47 percent)
- Report their practice is not at full capacity (53 percent)
- Describe the outlook for a career as a physician in 2014 is generally negative (28 percent)
- Have a solo practice (27 percent)
- Own or maintain an ownership stake in a single-specialty practice (18 percent)
Between April 18 and June 5, 1,527 physicians completed the Jackson Healthcare survey.