The survey found that slightly fewer than 60 percent of physicians provided charity care in 2008, but nearly 75 percent of physicians were accepting all or most new Medicare patients.
The 2008 survey includes responses from more than 4,700 physicians who provide at least 20 hours per week of direct patient care, and had a 62 percent response rate.
Other key findings from the survey include:
• Almost 75 percent of U.S. physicians were men in 2008. However, for physicians under age 40, slightly more than 41 percent were women, signaling how the composition of the physician workforce may change in the future.
• Around 75 percent physicians identified themselves as white, non-Hispanic, while 3.8 percent were black, non-Hispanic, 5.3 percent were Hispanic and 17.2 percent were Asian or other races. However, among physicians under age 40, about two-thirds were white and 33 percent were black, Hispanic, Asian or another race.
• Nearly one-third of physicians worked in solo or two-physician practices, 15 percent worked in groups of three to five physicians and 19 percent worked in practices of six to 50 physicians.
• More than 80 percent of physicians surveyed worked full time, 53 percent were 40-55 years old and almost four in 10 have practiced medicine for more than 20 years. Nine in 10 physicians were board certified, and 22 percent received their medical training outside of the United States or Canada.
• Almost 40 percent of physicians were primary care physicians, 35 percent were medical specialists, including psychiatrists and 26 percent were surgeons, including obstetrician/gynecologists.
• A slight majority of physicians (56 percent) were either full or part owners of their practices, while 44 percent were employees or independent contractors.
• In 2008, 44 percent of physicians reported receiving some form of performance-adjusted salary, for example an adjustment based on their own productivity. Roughly a quarter indicated payment by fixed salary, and 20 percent received a share of practice revenue. Productivity factors and overall practice financial performance were the most common financial incentives affecting physicians’ compensation.
• Slightly more than half of physicians (53 percent) reported their practices were accepting all or most new Medicaid patients; 28 percent reported accepting no new Medicaid patients. Almost nine in 10 physicians (87 percent) reported their practices were accepting all or most new privately insured patients, and 74 percent reported their practices accept all or most new Medicare patients.
• The vast majority of physicians (87 percent) had managed care contracts in 2008. Compared with physicians with one or more managed care contracts, physicians without managed care contracts were more likely to have practiced for more than 20 years, work fewer than 40 hours per week, lack board certification, work in solo or two-physician practices, live in the western United States and report practicing in a “non-competitive” environment.
Read the Center for Studying Health System Change’s release on the 2008 Health Tracking Physician Survey.
