Study: MDs generate $1.5M annually for hospitals

A new study has quantified something physicians already knew: that they contribute surprisingly big bucks to hospital revenue. The study, published by physician search firm Merritt, Hawkins & Associates, concluded that an average physician will generate $1.5 million in net revenue a year for affiliated hospitals. (MH&A got its data from hospital chief financial officers.) This number has actually fallen since 2004, when revenue generated by all specialists hit $1.9 million--a fact MH&A attributes partly the movement of procedures out of the hospital and into competing specialty centers.

Researchers, who looked at 17 specialties, found that invasive cardiologists offered a particularly big boost, generating $2.7 million per year for affiliated hospitals. Following on their heels were orthopedic surgeons, which generate $2.3 million per year, non-invasive cardiologists, at $2.2 million per year, and neurosurgeons, at $2.1 million. Neurologists, meanwhile, brought in the lowest volume, at $558K per year.

To get more data from the survey:
- read this Merritt, Hawkins press release (.pdf)

ALSO: Hospital CEOs are worried that a growing U.S. doctor shortage will blossom into a serious problem. Article

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