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.
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.
How Children’s Hospitals Differ from General Acute Care 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.
Alternatives to Per Diem Payments for Call Coverage
Over the past decade, spending for physician expenditures as a percent of total hospital operating expenditures has grown over 40% according to OSHPD data.
Alternatives to Per Diem Payments for Call Coverage
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.
What’s Ahead for Physician Emergency Call Coverage
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.
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
Psychiatry Call Coverage Shows Largest Percent Growth in Per Diem Payments
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.
Overall Trauma Centers Spend More on Physician Compensation
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.
Call Coverage Rates Remain High for Trauma Services
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)
Using Market Data for Commercial Reasonableness in Call Coverage Agreements
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.
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.
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.
What Specialties are Least Likely to Be Paid for Call?
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.
