Are you a hospital or health system executive concerned about your existing physician shortage in psychiatry? If so, you are not alone. Psychiatry tops the list of physician specialties for which clients engaged PYA in 2019, reflecting a high demand for help in establishing arrangements with mental health professionals. Where else was assistance needed? We’ve compiled a list of top specialties, encompassing several thousand physicians with which PYA either provided consultative advice or conducted a fair market value and/or commercial reasonableness opinion this past year. Here’s what made the list.
PYA’s “Top 10” Physician Specialty List for 2019
- Psychiatry
- Hospitalist
- Family Medicine
- Critical Care/Intensivist
- Internal Medicine
- Radiology
- Anesthesiology
- Obstetrics/Gynecology (OB/GYN)
- Pediatrics
- Pathology
Primary care specialties, such as family medicine, internal medicine, OB/GYN, and pediatrics, continue to dominate our Top 10. This is, in part, driven by evolving delivery models that emphasize prevention, quality payments, and care coordination, not simply for individuals, but for large patient groups. Year over year, these primary care specialties make our list, yet hospital-based specialties, such as anesthesiology, radiology, pathology, and critical care/intensivist, remain prevalent as well. Challenges such as ensuring community and facility needs are met, along with payer mix, are but some of the reasons these hospital-based specialties made our list. While not in the Top 10, also of note are other high-ranking specialties that include cardiology, infectious disease, hematology/oncology, and general surgery.
PYA also noticed a sharp increase in the number of requested engagements for management services agreements last year. The increase indicates that this type of economic alignment model between hospitals and physicians remains attractive for both parties and may signify growing popularity. Other economic alignment models, such as employment, medical director, and call coverage arrangements, continue to be the most common ways in which hospitals and health systems engage physicians.
PYA has experience in helping hospitals and health systems develop economic alignment models in all specialties. We also have deep expertise in designing compensation plans that help meet both hospital and physician goals, with a team of dedicated professionals who focus on fair market value and commercial reasonableness. If you would like information about economic alignment models, fair market value and commercial reasonableness opinions, or physician compensation, or for assistance with any matter involving valuation, strategy and integration, or compliance, contact one of our PYA executives below at (800) 270-9629.
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