Family doctor compensation relatively healthy: survey

Family physicians saw a 5.13% increase in compensation in 2011, among the largest reported in the recently released results of the American Medical Group Association (AMGA) 2012 Medical Group Compensation and Financial Survey.

The news was good for those practicing in primary care areas of medicine overall; they saw about a 4% increase, whereas other medical specialties averaged an increase of 2.8% and surgical specialties averaged around 3.4%.

In addition to family medicine, other specialties with relatively large compensation increases were hematology and medical oncology (7.13%), hypertension and nephrology (6.99%), and urgent care (5.17%).

The survey found that many provider organizations continue to operate at a significant loss, and although 79% of specialties saw increases in compensation in 2011, most increases were marginal.

“In the face of the current challenging economic climate, multispecialty medical groups and other organized systems of care continue to rise to the challenge of delivering the highest quality, coordinated care to the patients they serve,” commented Donald W. Fisher, PhD, CAE, president and chief executive officer of AMGA. “The data from the survey provide more evidence that the current Medicare system for the reimbursement and financing of healthcare is unsustainable. AMGA continues to advocate for changes in the Medicare reimbursement system, including a shift from volume-based to value-base payment models.”

The AMGA survey provides date on compensation, productivity, and financial operations from healthcare providers throughout the United States, including 124 specialties, 32 other healthcare provider positions, and 28 administrative positions. The data include responses from 225 medical groups representing 55,800 providers (55.6% of groups report more than 100 physicians).

The national consulting firm Sullivan, Cotter and Associates Inc. conducted the survey for the AMGA.

The AMGA represents large medical groups, independent practice associations, and integrated healthcare delivery systems that collectively deliver healthcare to about 130 million patients in 49 states, more than one in three Americans.

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Doctors Access Selects CareCloud To Launch New Practice Management Solution for Physician Network

Partnership Will Utilize CareCloud’s Cloud-Based Software and Services as Foundation for Doctors Access Pro(TM) Practice Management Offering for Hundreds of Healthcare Providers

NASHVILLE, Tenn. & MIAMI, Jul 25, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) — CareCloud, a leading provider of web-based practice management, electronic healthcare record (EHR) and medical billing software and services, today announced that Doctors Access, Inc., a nearly 20 year old practice management company and a division of iPractice Group, has entered into a unique partnership with CareCloud. Through this agreement, Doctors Access will utilize CareCoud’s platform in its new cloud-based practice management offering, Doctors Access Pro(TM), which will be made available to the approximately 500 current users of the Doctors Access practice management software.

As part of this strategic partnership, CareCloud’s cloud-based practice management software and services will act as the backbone of Doctors Access Pro, which will be an intuitive-to-use, easy-to-adopt and HIPAA 5010 compliant solution. The new practice management system will provide dynamic rules intelligence, expert live chat and phone support, reporting tools, automated claim submission, and comprehensive analytics reporting that will enable medical groups to track and optimize revenue and operations performance in real-time.

“Given the growing demands on medical and chiropractic practices to comply with new medical billing protocols, we believed it was time to offer our clients a cloud-based practice management solution to more easily navigate evolving compliance mandates like HIPAA 5010 and ICD-10, while at a price point that’s within the budget of smaller independent practices. After a lengthy search, we felt that CareCloud and its cloud-based practice management and revenue cycle management products clearly stood out in the industry,” said Ting Chang, Chief Executive Officer of Doctors Access.

Doctors Access plans to present the new Doctors Access Pro cloud-based solution to its clients starting in August 2012. iPractice Group, Inc., the parent company of Doctors Access, has already successfully migrated to the new cloud-based system for its revenue cycle management and billing services.

“We are thrilled to partner with Doctors Access as we look to bring a unique cloud-based practice management solution to hundreds of doctors across the country. Healthcare is seeing massive change, and no population in the industry is facing greater challenges than doctors and healthcare providers as they look to stay current with emerging IT and regulatory mandates,” said Albert Santalo, CareCloud’s Chairman and CEO. “Given the inherent flexibility of our cloud-based platform, CareCloud can partner with firms like Doctors Access to bring market-unique offerings to hundreds of diverse providers across a wide geographic region. We’re excited to enable Doctors Access’ healthcare providers to experience a network effect that bolsters their practices’ operations through capabilities that aren’t always available in traditional software solutions.”

About Doctors Access, a division of iPractice Group, Inc.

Doctors Access is a customer-focused technology services firm who provides practice management software and billing services to smaller, independent medical and chiropractic practices. Having nearly 20 years success working with hundreds of practices across the U.S., Doctors Access understands the challenges facing today’s healthcare providers across all specialties. As a division of iPractice Group, an all-inclusive IT products & services company headquartered in Nashville, TN, Doctors Access works with customers to update their businesses’ IT systems and improve their revenue management by offering practice management software, services, and IT support. Doctors Access is located at 51 Century Boulevard, Ste 125, Nashville, TN, 37214. For more information on Doctors Access, visit www.doctorsaccess.com or www.doctorsaccesspro.com .

About CareCloud

CareCloud is a leading provider of cloud-based practice management, revenue cycle management, electronic health record (EHR) and medical billing software and services for medical groups. The company’s products are connecting providers to one another – and to their patients – through a fully integrated digital healthcare ecosystem that can be accessed on any browser or device.

CareCloud is helping thousands of physicians to increase collections, streamline operations and improve patient care in over 30 states. The company was named a winner of IBM’s SmartCamp Silicon Valley 2010 for its innovative technology and received over $20 million in Series A funding from Intel Capital and Norwest Venture Partners. To learn more about CareCloud, please visit www.carecloud.com .

SOURCE: CareCloud, Inc.