Physicians Generate $1.54 Million Annually for Their Affiliated Hospitals
A single physician generates an average of $1.54 million a year in net revenue for his or her affiliated hospital, up slightly from an average of $1.5 million in 2007, according to a nationwide survey of hospital CFOs by physician search firm Merritt Hawkins. Neurosurgeons headed the list of hospital revenue drivers. A single, full-time neurosurgeon generates an average of $2.8 million a year for the hospital. Other high revenue-generating specialists include invasive cardiologists ($2.2 million a year), orthopedic surgeons ($2.1 million a year), general surgeons ($2.1 million a year), and hematologists/oncologists ($1.5 million a year).
Primary care physicians also generate substantial revenue for hospitals, the survey found. A general internist generates $1.7 million a year on average, a family physician $1.6 million a year, and a pediatrician $856,154 a year, according to the survey. Survey findings are based on data submitted by 114 facilities. Courtesy of HFMA News March 19th.
I am curious about the revenues generated by Anesthesiologist and Nurse Anesthetists. I will report my calculations in a later post.
MEDPAC Report Recommends Rate Increase for Physician Services
In its March 2010 report to the Congress, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) recommends that the Congress update payments for physician services by 1 percent in 2011. They also recommended increases in payment rates for the acute inpatient and outpatient prospective payment systems (PPS) in 2011 by the projected rate of increase in the hospital market basket index, concurrent with implementation of a quality incentive payment program. To recapture overpayments to hospitals resulting from the conversion to Medicare severity diagnosis-related groups, MedPAC recommends reduced payment rates in the inpatient PPS by the same percentage (up to 2 percentage points) each year in 2011, 2012, and 2013. The lower rates would remain in place until overpayments are fully recovered.
The principal focus of the report is MedPAC’s recommendations for annual rate adjustments in fee-for-service (FFS) Medicare. These updates are based on an assessment of payment adequacy taking into account beneficiaries’ access to care, supply of providers, the quality of the care they receive, and Medicare margins.
MedPAC recommends that the Congress update payments for physician services by 1 percent in 2011. The commission calls for a budget-neutral payment adjustment for primary care services billed under the physician fee schedule and furnished by primary-care-focused practitioners. MedPAC recommends no update to payment rates for skilled nursing facilities in FY11. The report also recommends a 0.6 percent increase in payments for ambulatory surgical center services in CY11 concurrent with requiring ASCs to submit cost and quality data.
