SOURCE: ECG Management Consultants, Inc.
SEATTLE, WA–(Marketwire – November 23, 2010) – ECG Management Consultants, Inc., one of the nation’s premier healthcare management consulting firms, today announced the release of its eleventh annual Northwest Provider Compensation, Production, and Benefits Surveys.
ECG’s Northwest surveys analyze and report information from over 4,200 healthcare providers representing 56 physician specialties and 8 midlevel provider specialties in the states of Washington and Oregon. The surveys contain critical data such as compensation-to-production ratios, including work and total relative value units (RVUs), procedure code distributions, trends in provider recruiting and retention, and specialty-specific benefit and malpractice comparisons. This information, coupled with ECG’s interpretation of market trends, enables survey participants to assess their performance relative to the competitive local market.
General findings in the 2010 surveys based on 2009 data are as follows:
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Compensation relative to work RVU production increased for Northwest physicians by 6.1 percent as a result of compensation gains of 5.2 percent on declining work RVU production of 1.1 percent.
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Retirement contributions remained flat at $13,351 per physician, while benefit costs overall fell to 17.9 percent of compensation as a result of increased compensation levels, even though actual costs continue to rise.
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The top three recruited specialties in the Northwest for the fourth year in a row include family practice without OB, internal medicine, and internal medicine – hospitalists.
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Health system-employed groups continue to experience significant losses (approximately 23 percent of collections), while independent groups are borrowing funds or accessing reserves equal to 1 percent of collections to cover expenses in excess of revenue.
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Provider organizations are targeting 191 percent of Medicare reimbursement for their commercial contracts for professional services, up from 178 percent in 2009. In reality, organizations are earning 187 percent for these same contracts.
“ECG’s Northwest surveys, now in their eleventh year, have become the most reliable source for physician performance benchmarks and trends in the Northwest,” said Ms. Maria C. Hayduk, Senior Manager at ECG and head of its Custom Survey and Proprietary Research practice. “Our members value receiving the most up-to-date information regarding regional and national trends in physician performance and compensation methodologies. This information is made even more critical as these areas are impacted by healthcare reform.”
“Continuing economic pressures and healthcare reform have been the story of 2010 for physician organizations in the Northwest,” stated Mr. Kevin M. Kennedy, Principal and leader of ECG’s Healthcare – Northwest practice. “The changing strategic landscape means it is more important than ever for both independent and hospital-affiliated practices to build groups of motivated, aligned physicians. Our surveys are the premier source of information organizations need for recruiting and retaining their key providers to accomplish this objective.”
ECG Survey Methodology
The Provider Compensation, Production, and Benefits Surveys are developed in partnership with local healthcare leaders and ECG’s physician compensation and production experts. These experts go to extraordinary lengths to ensure data quality and validity. Raw survey data is reviewed by ECG’s survey analysts, who identify outliers for verification by the surveys’ participants; if data cannot be validated, it is removed. At the conclusion of this process, ECG converts the raw data into succinct, proprietary information.
About ECG Management Consultants, Inc.
ECG offers a broad range of strategic, financial, operational, and technology-related consulting services to healthcare providers. ECG provides specialized expertise in developing and implementing innovative and customized solutions that effectively address hospital/physician relationships, strategic and business planning, specialty program development, information technology, and the complexities of the academic healthcare enterprise. ECG has offices in Boston, San Diego, Seattle, St. Louis, and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.ecgmc.com.
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