A recent survey of employed and private practice physicians sheds light on satisfaction with their respective work situations. The results may help inform physicians’ employment decisions.
Employed and self-employed physicians are about equally satisfied with their work situations, according to a recent Medscape survey of more than 4,600 physicians, but self-employed doctors are somewhat more satisfied with their current practice situation than employed doctors.
The report defined “employed” as a physician that does not run a private practice. About three-fourths of both employed and self-employed doctors said they were professionally satisfied overall. As for satisfaction with current practice situations, about 65 percent of self-employed physicians said they were satisfied, compared to about 59 percent of employed physicians.
More than one-half of the physicians surveyed were previously employed and switched to self-employment, while about 29 percent of employed doctors were previously owners or partners in private practice. Nearly one-half of employed doctors work in a hospital or in a group owned by a hospital, according to the report.
What do employed physicians most like about their situations? Not having to deal with the business of running a practice, dealing with insurers and or handling billing, according to the survey. On the flip side, employed doctors dislike having less influence in decision-making and find that their income potential is more limited than that of self-employed doctors.
The results echo an AMA-sponsored study by the RAND Corporation released in the fall, which found that physicians in doctor-owned practices were more likely to be satisfied than their colleagues who practiced in a clinical setting owned by a hospital or corporation. Such factors as autonomy and work control, alignment with the values of practice leadership, and perceptions of collegiality, fairness and respect played a major role in satisfaction, regardless of the physician’s practice model.
The study also found that pressing regulatory concerns and burdensome electronic health records are some of the biggest contributors to physician dissatisfaction.
The study is part of the AMA’s Professional Satisfaction and Practice Sustainability initiative. In response to these findings, the AMA is developing solutions for physicians, both self-employed and employed, to strengthen their practices and allow them to focus on the single greatest driver of professional satisfaction: providing high-quality care to patients.
In addition, the AMA offers resources designed to protect the interests of employed physicians, including a sample physician-hospital employment agreement and principles for physician employment. The AMA’s physician assistance service can help AMA members navigate the wide range of physician-hospital relationships.
