All support staff are not created equal, says MGMA cost survey
Survey results may back up requests for staff
The new cost survey published by the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) in Englewood, CO, indicates that practices with more support staff are more efficient than other practices just the ammunition you need to get that new receptionist approved, you say. But hold on, the association says, better performance doesn’t come from hiring support personnel willy-nilly.
"An increase in staff can increase your productivity," says David Gans, MSHA, CMPE, director of survey operations. "But that comes only when the staff you hire increase patient contact."
The survey [available by calling the MGMA at (303) 397-7888] shows that the 16 practices considered "better performing" did 11,264 procedures per physician per year (see table, p. 2.) in 1996. That compares with 9,479 for the other 337 practices participating in the survey. "In those better performers, the staffing ratios were higher," says Gans. "But the key is that the increase in staff tends to be more medical assistants."
The 16 better performing practices averaged 0.85 medical assistants per physician, compared with 0.52 medical assistants in the other practices, Gans says. (For more on what a better practice does differently, see related story, at right.)
Other findings of the survey include:
• Marketing expenditure was down, even in better performing practices. All multispecialty practices saw the median marketing budget drop from $1,854 per physician in 1995 to $1,778 in 1996. For better performers, the budgets were larger, but they still declined over the year from $2,066 to $1,992.
• Net medical revenue per physician in multispecialty practices averaged $444,915, compared with $451,423 in 1995.
• Operating costs per physician for multispecialty practices were up almost $7,000 to $252,618.
• Cost per patient also rose from $264.61 in 1995 to $315.76 in 1996.
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