Medical practice income, expenses detailed in new statistics report

The National Society of Certified Healthcare Business Consultants (NSCHBC) has released information on medical practice overhead percentages, average monthly charges in accounts receivable, full time equivalent staff ratios, and more in its 2012Joint Statistics Reportof Medical and Dental Statistics on Income and Expenses. Each year, the organization, with the Academy of Dental CPAs, surveys its members and compiles a statistics report on key cost and revenue components of medical and dental practices.

“The cost and expense of running a business is a major concern of physicians in independent private practices today,” says Steven Peltz, NSCHBC president. “Many physicians and their managers don't know their costs of keeping their doors open to patients, much less knowing what those costs should be. Finance and business management is not something typically taught in medical schools."

The report features data from more than 2,700 professional practices representing more than 5,200 full-time-equivalent doctors. It covers 60 medical and dental specialties, including family practice, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, general dentistry, and orthodontics.

“Physicians are used to applying scientific methodology to patient care, but those same physicians are often blind to doing the same thing in monitoring the 'business health' of their practices. The same physician that is closely monitoring a diabetic patient's lab results against statistical norms may be ignoring her own practice's expenses versus specialty benchmarks, to the risk of her business’s health," Peltz says.

Physicians can order the report by calling the NSCHBC at 703-234-4099. Reports are available for the years 2006 to 2012. Each year’s report is based on the prior year’s data. For additional details, including the list of specialties, a sample report, and pricing, visit the NSCHBC Web site at www.nschbc.org/statistics/index.cfm.

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