Doctors may have started the year in solid financial shape.
But plenty of them had to tap into their savings to keep their practices afloat in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged their practices' bottom lines, according to a new report from Medscape. Primary care physicians are seeing a 55% drop in revenue and a 20% to 30% drop in patient volumes as many closed their offices.
"Even with telemedicine, many primary care physicians have seen an overall decline in-office visits and an end to non-urgent visits like routine physicals," said Travis Singleton, senior vice president at Merritt Hawkins, in the report.
But that proportion may change due to the pandemic, officials said in the report.
For instance, the report says, many of the specialties with the highest average incomes are taking the largest hits due to the inability to perform elective procedures over the last several months.
"Many of our clients have reduced incomes, some by over 50%," said Joel Greenwald, M.D., CEO of Greenwald Wealth Management, in the report. "They have stopped any ongoing retirement savings outside of their employer retirement plans and are trying to have their new lower income cover basic living expenses."
