Optimistic Outlook

“Physicians will experience a revenue surge in 2014,” according to an article over at Medscape Today News.  The idea is that with the passing of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), health insurance will be greatly expanded and more consumers will be covered than ever before.  Economists predict that the addition of new medical consumers will increase public and private spending on physician and clinical services by almost 9% in that year alone.  Experts predict that around 30 million newly insured individuals will be more likely to use physician services and prescription drugs rather than hospital care.  This is because it’s a group of younger, mostly healthy people.  While spending on hospital services is expected to grow at a slower rate, overall spending on healthcare nationally should increase by 5.8% per year between now and 2020.  This is going to create opportunities for the practices that are ready to handle the challenges.

On the Other Hand

Not everyone agrees that this upswing will help physicians bring in more dollars.  The amount of money spent on healthcare in the U.S. is staggering, so the addition of millions of patients has the potential to rock the system.  But will that really mean higher revenues for doctors?  The pessimists out there say No.  There are many who believe physicians will have to work harder but for less money.  Reimbursements will continue to shrink as the number of patients increase.  Plus, the more patients a practice accepts the more expenses go up.  For example, there will be a need for more staff to handle a higher patient load.  Also, rates for medical malpractice insurance could rise due to increased exposure.  More patient contact equals more risk for med mal claims.  Others point out that a Medicare pay cut will offset any revenue increase anyway.

Whether you are optimistic about the future of healthcare in the U.S. or not, we know one thing for sure:  Changes are going to come and physicians need to be prepared!  The changes that many fear will be opportunities for forward thinkers.