Medical group practices that readily adopt new ancillary services and technologies and those that have higher ratios of support staff to physicians tend to be more productive and successful than their peers, according to the Medical Group Management Association’s recently released Performance and Practices of Successful Medical Groups: 2005 Report Based on 2004 Data. Total medical revenue after operating cost for multispecialty groups with primary and specialty care was 24.7% higher per FTE physician ($362,6600 versus $273,037) in “better performer” groups than in others. The same was true for many specialty groups. MGMA also found that operating cost per FTE physician in multispecialty groups was 22% higher among better performers.
More than 40% of better performing groups acquired equipment and materials to provide new services, and 32% acquired new information technology or billing systems--strong factors in improving patient satisfaction, practice efficiency, and profitability. Successful practices also more effectively used staff to boost practice efficiency and provider productivity.
