Physician practice expense growth is driving additional investment across the U.S., according to Strata.
The analytics firm surveyed more than 135,000 physicians and 1,850 hospitals to gather financial data every month. Expenses per physician practice have been climbing over the last few years and continued to grow in August, according to the report.
Four things to know:
1. The average expense per full time physician hit $1.1 million in August annualized, which is a 5.8% jump from last year and 15.4% increase since 2023, according to the report. The largest increase occurred in the Midwest, at 9.5%, while practices in the West reported a 1.1% year over year decline.
2. Per-physician investments increased 4.7% year over year to $326,199, with hospitals in the Northeast reporting the biggest growth at 11%; practices in the West reported a 0.2% decrease.
3. Median net patient service revenue per physician reached $776,129 in August, a 4% year over year increase and 14.7% jump from two years ago.
4. Physician productivity increased with expenses and revenue. The average work relative value unit per physician increased 1.7% year over year and 7.2% since 2023 while staffing levels dropped. The median staff FTEs per 10,0000 wRVUs declined nearly 1% to 3.59.
