I’m finding a trend going on in health care right now, and I’m trying hard to make sense of it.

Based on this article from Fierce Health Care, hospitals are employing 32% more physicians since just over a decade ago.  They’re basing the numbers on the 2012 version of AHA Hospital Statistics.  Take a look at this:

“Although 55.1 percent of physicians are not employed or under contract with hospitals, the report reveals that 20.3 percent are covered by a group contract, 17.3 percent are directly employed, and 7.2 percent have individual contracts, the article notes.

What’s more, the amount of hospitals employing hospitalists rose from 29.6 percent in 2003 to 59.8 percent in 2010, according to the report. Meanwhile, hospitals’ intensivist employment increased from 20.7 percent to 29.7 percent between 2007 and 2010, H&HN Daily notes.”

Now, generally, I’d say this is really good news.  But the confusion comes in when I see this kind of information reported on CNN.com: Doctors Going Broke.

This article pointed out some more interesting stats, but also some in-depth stories from the front line where private practices are suffering the worst.  Here’s a few snippets from the article:

“”A lot of independent practices are starting to see serious financial issues,” said Marc Lion, CEO of Lion & Company CPAs, LLC, which advises independent doctor practices about their finances.

Doctors list shrinking insurance reimbursements, changing regulations, rising business and drug costs among the factors preventing them from keeping their practices afloat. But some experts counter that doctors’ lack of business acumen is also to blame.”

And I thought this line really hit the nail on the head:

“Also on his mind, the impending 27.4% Medicare pay cut for doctors. “If that goes through, it will put us under,” he said.”

So there seems to be a disconnect here: doctors are going out of business left and right for a combination of reasons, yet hospitals are hiring on more doctors than they did 12 years ago when profits were far higher.

To succeed with that kind of strategy, the hospital had better be focusing strongly on collecting receivables and containing cost.  Unfortunately, not all of them are.

What do you think about this disconnect?  Are these figures likely to turn around any time soon?  Or is it going to continue?  Let us know in the comments and let’s discuss!

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