Becker's ASC Review

11 ASC Management based multispecialty group practice physicians have been sued. More than half — 57 percent — of hospital-based physicians report being sued. 2 Half of the malpractice lawsuits physicians experienced in the Medscape Malpractice Report 2015 had no monetary award; 20 percent were under $100,000 and 17 percent were $100,001 to $500,000. Only 5 percent were more than $1 million. 3. Self-employed physicians must pay a self-employment tax, which was 15.3 percent in 2014, as well as employee and office expenses. According to a 2013 CompHealth report, private practice employee expenses reach $565,024 on average, while office occupancy costs reach $150,505 and office supplies are typically $69,464 per year. 3 4. Changes in healthcare in recent years has made it more difficult for indepen- dent physician practices to remain profitable. Forty-seven percent of physicians say the most challenging aspect of running an independent practice today is the escalating costs and downward reimbursement pressure. Additional challenges include maintaining referral streams, integrating with accountable care organiza- tions and implementing new IT equipment and soware. 4 5. Hospitals and large group practices can afford to hire specialists to spread out the cost of purchasing equipment, hiring employees and training person- nel. For the full year of 2015, there were 88 physician practice acquisitions, a 46.7 percent increase over the same period last year. ree of the four quarters in 2015 had at least 20 acquisitions. 5 6. Female physicians and those under 40 are choosing employment in much greater numbers than their male and over 40 counterparts. Medscape's Em- ployed Doctors Report: Are ey Better Off ? reports 78 percent of male phy- sicians are self-employed, compared with 22 percent of female physicians. Seventy percent of physicians older than 40 years old are employed, com- pared with 88 percent of physicians younger than 40. 4 7. Hospitals are acquiring more and more smaller practices employing those physicians. Twenty percent of physicians responding in to a 2014 ProCare Systems survey reported planning to sell their practice within the next de- cade; 10 percent reported plannng to sell within the next three years. Forty- four percent anticipate selling their practice at some point, but 73 percent said they'd prefer to remain independent. 6 8. About 49 percent of employed physicians work for hospitals or large group practices owned by hospitals, but others are also big employers. Approxi- mately 21 percent of physicians are employed by private groups. 4 9. irty-eight percent of employed physicians cite financial security as their number one reason for choosing employment. 4 10. Self-employed physicians point to the perks of being their own boss and not having to answer to multiple layers of authority as big reasons for their choice. Conversely, 45 percent of employed physicians say limited influence in decision making is a downside to employment. 4 11. When asked to rate their levels of satisfaction, independent and em- ployed physicians are equally satisfied, with 65 percent of self-employed phy- sicians being somewhat more satisfied compared to 59 percent of employed physicians. About 70 percent of physicians who moved from employment to self-employment say they're happier. 4 n References: 1 Medscape Physician Compensation Report 2015 2 Medscape Malpractice Report 2015 3 CompHealth 4 Medscape Employed Doctors Report 2015 5 Irving Levin Associates "Health Care M&A Report." 6 2015 Physician Independent Physician Outlook Survey: "Physician Migra- tory Patterns: reats to Independence and Implications for the Future." 6 Recent ASC Acquisitions By Allison Sobczak Here are six recently acquired ASCs. 1. The Center for Minimally Invasive Surgery in Mo- kena, Ill., partnered with Surgical Care Affiliates. 2. Campbell County Health, based in Gillette, Wyo., ac- quired Powder River Surgery Center, also in Gillette. 3. Central Piedmont Surgery Center in Asheboro, N.C., was bought by Flagship Healthcare Real Estate Fund in Charlotte, N.C., and Broyhill Asset Management in Lenoir, N.C. 4. Surgical Care Affiliates partnered with the Surgery Center of Athens (Ga.). 5. Gardendale (Ala.) Surgical Center became a part of Birmingham, Ala.-based Brookwood Medical Center's network. 6. Downers Grove, Ill.-based DuPage Medical Group acquired Midwest Digestive Disease Specialists in Oakbrook Terrace, Ill. n Life-Saving Equipment, Medications & Training Since 1970 CRASH CART AUTO-REPLENISHMENT 9469 v.1 01/2016 Banyan tracks and replenishes medications just prior to expiration. Sign Up Now 1-888-782-8548 StatKit.com/crashcart

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