The kickback allegations are in relation to orthopedic surgeon contracts for on-call emergency department rotation.
Our 2019 report highlights the growing significance of physician contracts as a major component of hospital spending, with particular growth in payment for hospital-based physician services such as hospitalists, intensivists and laborists.
Organizations that lack policies about when to pay for ED coverage run the risk of making decisions that aren’t always strategic.
According to MD Ranger's database of more than 33,000 physician contracts, more than 70% of call coverage contracts are paid by a per diem rate.
Despite the advantages of per diem rates, nearly 30% of call coverage contracts include multiple payment methods.
When it comes to physician contracting expenses at hospitals and health systems, call coverage contracts often make up a significant percent of the total spending. As common sense would suggest, larger facilities pay more for call coverage than smaller facilities.
Pediatric facilities understandably have a specific set of patients and, as a result, they have different physician contracting needs than most hospitals.
While cases where physician compensation benchmarks change rapidly from year to year certainly garner more attention, it can be insightful to examine when the opposite is true as well.
While cases where physician compensation benchmarks change rapidly from year to year certainly garner more attention, it can be insightful to examine when the opposite is true as well.
Over the past decade, spending for physician expenditures as a percent of total hospital operating expenditures has grown over 40% according to OSHPD data.
Over the past decade, spending for physician expenditures as a percent of total hospital operating expenditures has grown over 40% according to OSHPD data. Costs will escalate when a hospital starts to compensate one specialty, which will create a domino effect with others.
MD Ranger data strongly suggests the benefits of multi-facility physician contracts as an important strategy for controlling costs.
Call coverage agreements comprise a staggering portion of many hospitals’ physician spending costs. How did we get here and what does the future hold for call coverage compensation?
A question we often receive is whether hospitals with accredited stroke centers pay more for call coverage and medical directorships than other facilities.
MD Ranger’s analysis shows that call coverage benchmarks for accredited stroke centers are higher than benchmarks for non-stroke centers.
Are holidays any different? We found a measurable difference in payment rates when differential rates are paid for weekends and holidays with an important caveat
We sometimes see differential payment rates for weekend and weekday coverage shifts. Are holidays any different?
We’ll examine which medical and surgical physician specialties have seen the largest percent growth in their per diem call coverage payments, comparing MD Ranger’s 2017 physician contracting benchmarks to 2009’s benchmarks.
In addition to looking at physician contract benchmarks for call coverage, medical direction, and hospital-based agreements, MD Ranger examines aggregate spending on physician contracts at the facility level.
Let’s look at medical directorship agreements and examine which services reported the highest median hours worked per year.
Explore which call coverage agreements have had the largest dollar increases in their median call coverage rates since 2009
Trauma Neurosurgery, the largest individual call coverage per diem rate, is more than double those of the fourth place service (neurosurgery) and nearly three times those of the fifth place service (OB Anesthesia)
In this post, we’re going to focus on looking at which specialties are most likely to be paid call coverage and how that information can be used to evaluate commercial reasonableness.
At the individual contract level, several factors consistently correlate with higher contract rates
Though rates at the individual service level remain relatively stable year over year, overall physician costs paid by hospitals have skyrocketed in the last decade.
Stark Law not only requires that physicians be paid fair market value, but that the payment be commercially reasonable
Negotiating a new physician contract payment rate or even renewing an existing contract can be challenging.
It is not uncommon for hospitals to experience a cascade effect once they start compensating for call coverage
It is not uncommon for hospitals to experience a cascade effect once they start compensating for call coverage.
It is not uncommon for hospitals to experience a cascade effect once they start compensating for call coverage.
Physicians are often concerned that the burden of carrying a beeper isn't worth the limited revenue associated with coverage
Despite the increasing pressure to pay for emergency coverage across multiple specialties, it is possible to find middle ground with physicians on this issue that addresses the physicians' need to be recognized for the time and service and the hospital's need for coverage. Here are some suggestions to consider for your organization.
For every 100 bed increase in ADC, a physician receives 25% more for call coverage and 14% more for medical direction.
No doubt about it, hospitals have been spending more on physician coverage and administrative payments than they have in the past.
Given that physician contracting dollars are, on average, 4-6% of a hospital’s operating budget (excluding employed physicians), providing emergency coverage is a huge expense.
Understanding the specialties who are called most frequently is an important variable to consider.
What impact does call coverage make on your overall spending?
Does your organization pay physicians above and beyond to take call over the holidays?
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