Typical overhead cost?

[beyondhuman]

I was just reading some spoooky articles on declining reimbursement/increasing overhead/ACA when I realized I don't really know what to expect as far as overhead (insurance, continuing ed, etc.).

Obviously it varies greatly by specialty and practice setting but does anybody have any idea what is typical for various specialties/settings?

Ps: I aleadry searched and googled and didn't get any very specific info besides it climbing a lot.

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[Etyan]

Though this paper is from Health Affairs 1997, it indirectly addresses some parts of your question:

http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/16/1/55.full.pdf

Namely:

Specialty-specific overhead costs in the [Medical Group Management Association (MGMA)]'s report range from a low of 20 percent to a high of 69 percent of revenue.

I was just reading some spoooky articles on declining reimbursement/increasing overhead/ACA when I realized I don't really know what to expect as far as overhead (insurance, continuing ed, etc.).

Obviously it varies greatly by specialty and practice setting but does anybody have any idea what is typical for various specialties/settings?

Ps: I aleadry searched and googled and didn't get any very specific info besides it climbing a lot.

 

[deleted303591]

Wikipedia has some good information about reimbursement and the flow of money going through the system.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care_in_the_United_States

I cannot give you a dynamic overlook of what your are asking for but, here is something interesting:

An oft-cited study by Harvard Medical School and the Canadian Institute for Health Information determined that some 31% of U.S. health care dollars, or more than $1,000 per person per year, went to health care administrative costs, nearly double the administrative overhead in Canada, on a percentage basis.

 

[beyondhuman]

Thanks both of you that was very interesting but there seems to be a misunderstanding of what I was asking. I'm not wondering about administrative overhead I am wondering about net pay.

The average doctor across all specialties makes something like 250k-270k. A good chunk goes to tax because of the high income of course but does anybody have any idea how much goes to just maintaining practice (insurance, board cert fees, continuing ed. cost, and such)?

I mean if those stats mean a doc looses 20%-70% (I have seen other quotes of 40-60%) of their gross pay to just keeping their job it really doesn't leave that much.

 

[kyamh]

I guess that depends on your definition of "that much".....I would say that every physician I have met lives a very comfortable life.

A couple months ago there was a giant thread about this topic:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/ind...t-levels-and-declining-reimbursements.970890/

If you are concerned about losing a lot of your pay to various practice costs, then work for a hospital 🙂 My mom is a pediatrician (one of the "underpaid" specialties) and is not lacking for anything.

 

[theseeker4]

Thanks both of you that was very interesting but there seems to be a misunderstanding of what I was asking. I'm not wondering about administrative overhead I am wondering about net pay.

The average doctor across all specialties makes something like 250k-270k. A good chunk goes to tax because of the high income of course but does anybody have any idea how much goes to just maintaining practice (insurance, board cert fees, continuing ed. cost, and such)?

I mean if those stats mean a doc looses 20%-70% (I have seen other quotes of 40-60%) of their gross pay to just keeping their job it really doesn't leave that much.

Income reported for physicians is typically gross income, not gross revenue for the practice. Typically, these numbers will be gross pay after the overhead expenses are already deducted. Depending on the practice and how it is reported, malpractice may or may not be included in the numbers, but salaries for other employees of the practice should not be included in those physician pay numbers, nor should cost of keeping the office open, etc.

 

[IlDestriero]

Income reported for physicians is typically gross income, not gross revenue for the practice. Typically, these numbers will be gross pay after the overhead expenses are already deducted. Depending on the practice and how it is reported, malpractice may or may not be included in the numbers, but salaries for other employees of the practice should not be included in those physician pay numbers, nor should cost of keeping the office open, etc.

Correct. The reported income figures will be after overhead and may or may not include other benefits.
If you're looking at 1099 positions vs W2 you have to find out what they cover, if anything, and factor in that cost.

 

[312312312]

I'm seriously a little bit worried about the cost of med school cuz I've still gotta pay my bills from my last college adventure lol.