Courtesy of Dark Daily

Trend could prove unfavorable to independent clinical laboratory companies

More physicians now join hospital-owned practices than any other type of practice. That’s one conclusion reported in a survey conducted by the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA). This is a trend that may have negative implications for independent clinical laboratory companies and pathology groups that provide medical laboratory testing to office-based physicians. 

In the MGMA survey, higher compensation packages offered by hospital-owned practices were cited as one reason why growing numbers of physicians choose a hospital-owned practice. The survey also determined that physicians believe they will have a better chance for reimbursements in hospital-owned practice settings, compared to other practice models. 

Meanwhile, first-year compensation packages continue to show wide variation for single-specialty versus multi-specialty practices, as well as between specialists and primary care physicians. It is a bothersome trend, since the proportion of graduating physicians selecting primary care has declined in each year of the past decade.

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