Is Bigger Better? Group Practices Become the New Norm

Group physician practices are the new normal, and it seems that dermatologists were ahead of the consolidation curve, according to research in the September 2016 issue of Health Affairs.

Researchers examined physician consolidation for both primary care providers and specialists via Medicare’s Physician Compare data for the period 2013–15.  The proportion of physicians in groups of nine or fewer declined from 40.1 percent in 2013 to 35.3 percent in 2015. During the same period, the proportion of those in groups of one hundred or more increased from 29.6 percent to 35.1 percent, the study showed.

These changes were significantly more pronounced among primary care providers than among specialists.  Specifically, the percentage of primary care physicians in the smallest group size declined more (5.7 percent for primary care providers, compared to 1.1 percent among specialists), and the percentage of primary care physicians in the largest group increased more (4.5 percent, compared to a 1.1 percent among specialists).

There was not nearly as much activity for dermatologists during the period, study author David Muhlestein PhD, JD, Vice President of Research at Leavitt Partners in Salt Lake City, Utah, tells Dermwire. “Most dermatologist were already in larger practices, though there was a drop in all practice sizes below 500,” he says. “The takeaway is that larger groups were already the norm for dermatologists, though there is continued movement toward larger groups.”

Key Dermatology Data