SURVEY REPORT

What doctors want most from practice

More free time, more income, and less hassle around the office were the top choices in our latest survey.

By Berkeley Rice
Senior Editor

Most physicians, we assume, are dedicated to providing good patient care. But we wondered what else drives today's doctors. So our 2001 Continuing Survey questionnaire posed the question: "Aside from good patient care, what practice goal would you say motivates you most right now?"

Presented with a list of options, one-third of our primary care respondents picked "more free time," the most popular choice. The next most common goal, picked by more than 27 percent of those responding, was "increased earnings." The third-ranked choice, with 18 percent, was "greater administrative ease of practice."

Back in 1987, the last time we asked about practice goals, greater ease of practice was the top choice, followed by more free time and increased earnings. Another popular option that year was increasing practice size, which garnered 16 percent of the votes.

This year, however, relatively few doctors picked either increasing (8 percent) or reducing (5 percent) the size of their practice, while even fewer cited changing their practice type or becoming more specialized. The 6 percent who marked "other" wrote in such specific goals as better service, compassion, professional development; learning more; dropping HMOs, less call, less hospital work, slowing down, part-time teaching, or retirement.

Ob/gyns, FPs, and pediatricians were most likely to yearn for additional free time and income. Internists, GPs, and pediatricians, however, chose "greater administrative ease" more often than other doctors.

When we compared primary care physicians' goals with their 2000 gross practice income, we found some interesting, if predictable, relationships. For example, "more free time" was most popular among doctors in the higher-earning categories, perhaps because they're putting in longer days and seeing more patients to earn those big bucks.* In contrast, physicians who grossed less than $80,000 were naturally most eager to increase their earnings, but showed much less interest in increasing their free time than their high-earning colleagues.

We also examined doctors' goal preferences according to practice size. According to our data, relatively few doctors in groups of 10 or more showed much desire for greater administrative ease, suggesting they're relatively insulated from managed care hassles. Those in two-doctor partnerships expressed the least interest in increasing their earnings, while those in the biggest groups (25 or more physicians) were most eager to boost their income.

How do your goals compare? Check the accompanying tables to find out.

*See "Are you really working harder now?" Nov. 19, 2001.

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Practice goals for primary care physicians

How goals vary with gross income^*

Doctors in large groups want higher pay

HMO participation makes a difference

A Medical Economics Web Exclusive

How primary care physicians’ goals vary

By years in practice . . .

By type of community . . .

And by region

Practice goals

 

Berkeley Rice. Survey Report: What doctors want most from practice. Medical Economics 2001;24.