ASCs are already contending with a broader staffing crunch, including a physician shortage and a shrinking anesthesia workforce that recruiters describe as a widening supply problem.
Layered on top of that shortage, the price of replacing even one departing physician can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars once lost billings, recruitment fees and vacancy time are added up.
Recent data from AMN Healthcare, a Jackson Physician Search survey conducted with MGMA, and a new workforce retention study from SullivanCotter and Lotis Blue puts fresh numbers behind that cost, and behind what is and isn’t keeping physicians in place.
Here are 10 figures ASC leaders should know:
1. Filling a single vacant physician position can cost an organization more than $500,000 once recruitment expenses and lost billing potential are combined, according to a March 2025 AMN Healthcare report, “The Cost of Physician Turnover and the Economic Impact of Physicians.”
2. That same AMN Healthcare report found physicians generate an average of $3.8 million in annual revenue-generating potential across 18 specialties.
3. The lost-billing math is steepest in specialties that fill many ASC schedules. AMN Healthcare estimated potential monthly lost billings of $817,459 for orthopedic surgery, $490,500 for urology, $349,000 for otolaryngology and $283,333 for cardiology.
4. The average office-based physician supports 17 local jobs, generates $1.4 million in wages and benefits and contributes $126,129 annually in state and local tax revenue, per the AMN Healthcare analysis.
5. Direct recruitment costs add up quickly. A Becker’s analysis of data from the Association for Advancing Physician and Provider Recruitment and Jackson Physician Search found interview expenses can run as high as $30,000 per candidate, and signing bonuses averaged $37,473 in 2023, a 21% jump from the year before.
6. That same analysis put the average time to fill a family medicine vacancy at 4.3 months and specialist roles at five to 10 months, with a single family medicine vacancy estimated to cost roughly $559,000 in lost revenue over that stretch.
7. The turnover problem isn’t new, but it has been building for over a decade. Research published in Annals of Internal Medicine found the annual physician turnover rate climbed 43% between 2010 and 2018, with hospitalists moving jobs most frequently of any specialty tracked.
8. The newest retention data shows the exit often comes early. A Jackson Physician Search survey conducted with MGMA and released in September 2025 found that 59% of physicians leave their first job within three years, far above the 27% who expected to, and 45% cited leadership or administration issues as a top reason for going.
9. Few organizations are prepared for it. Just 15% of medical groups surveyed have a formal physician retention plan in place, according to the same survey.
10. There is a counter-trend worth watching. A SullivanCotter and Lotis Blue workforce retention study, published in January 2026, found physicians now post the lowest quit rate of any clinical role, at 5%, and identified clinical discretion, or physician autonomy over their own work, as the single largest driver of retention, ahead of pay.
At the Becker’s 32nd Annual Meeting: The Business and Operations of ASCs, taking place October 29-31 in Chicago, ASC leaders, surgeons and healthcare executives will explore strategies to drive growth, enhance operational performance, navigate reimbursement challenges and prepare for the future of ambulatory surgery. Apply for complimentary registration now.
