A Snapshot of U.S. Physicians : Key Findings from the 2008 Health Tracking Physician Survey

From Press Release:

Almost 75 percent of physicians were accepting all or most new Medicare patients, the vast majority of physicians contracted with managed care plans, and slightly fewer than six in 10 physicians provided charity care in 2008, according to findings released today from the nationally representative Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) 2008 Health Tracking Physician Survey.

Funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the 2008 Health Tracking Physician Survey covers a wide variety of physician and practice dimensions, from basic physician demographic information, practice organization and career satisfaction to insurance acceptance, compensation arrangements and charity care provision. The 2008 survey includes responses from more than 4,700 physicians who provide at least 20 hours per week of direct patient care, and had a 62 percent response rate. Because of changes in survey administration, results from the 2008 physician survey cannot be compared to findings from earlier HSC Community Tracking Study Physician Surveys. However, the 2008 physician survey establishes a new baseline that will allow future tracking of how physicians organize and practice medicine.

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