Office-based physicians provided an estimated $10.5 billion worth of in-kind services and charity care to the uninsured in 2013, according to an analysis of uncompensated care in the United States.
Successful patient engagement requires that physicians have adequate time and space to focus on care. However, 70% of physicians are spending more than one day a week on paperwork instead of patient care, according to the 2014 Practice Profitability Index (PPI). In addition to the overwhelming paperwork, nearly one-quarter of physicians (23%) spend more than 40% of their time on administration.
The math is simple. The average PCP has 2,500 patients and supposedly makes $180,000 a year. Therefore, the insurer is paying your primary care doctor $72 a year per patient—out of the $7,200 a year paid to the insurer. That’s 1% of the insurance premium. It works out to $6 a month (19.7 cents a day!) to have a highly trained professional overseeing your care.
We happily pay more for Netflix and consider it one of the best values around. Is your doctor worth less?
49% of doctors believe they're not fairly compensated. Of primary care physicians, this percentage increases to 54%. It’s no myth that doctors are some of the highest paid professionals in the country. So why are they complaining?
“The patient is thinking: ‘I’m taking the afternoon off work for this appointment. I’ve waited three months for it. I’ve got a list of things to discuss.’ The doctor is thinking, ‘I’ve got 15 minutes.’ There is almost a built-in tension.”
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