A new American Medical Group Association survey has revealed over $249,000 in median loss per physician for system-affiliated groups, with revenue gains now falling behind a continued increase in operating expenses.
While the AMGA 2023 Medical Group Operations and Finance Survey, made up of more than 15,000 providers and over 5,700 individual clinics, found an increase from $608,639 to $719,901 in median total revenue per physician, median total expenses also increased from $905,283 to over $1 million per physician, according to the AMGA Dec. 18 release.
Compared to pre-pandemic performance from 2020 survey results, the new data also revealed a 9.1% increase in median total revenue per physician, with a 26.5% increase in median total physician expenses in the same period.
"Survey results indicate that ongoing external pressures — such as cost of labor, staffing shortages, CMS fee schedule and regulatory changes — are impacting medical group performance," Mike Coppola, consulting chief operating officer for AMGA, said in the release.
Increased expenses are also being driven by labor challenges. This year, clinic staff expenses per physician hit a median total of $208,316, up from $156,745 in 2022. For many medical groups, use of telehealth services saw an increase in 2023, with specialties like primary care seeing a leveling off of telehealth visits, the survey revealed.
Revenue cycle process performance improvements — specifically in controllable denials, which represent 17.1% of the total — is another area of opportunity that the survey highlighted for physician groups.
"The survey revealed the multiple operational challenges medical groups are facing today. It also indicated some key areas where they can benchmark and evaluate how they can continue to deliver quality, cost-effective care to their communities," Mr. Coppola said in the release.