Group medical practice in the United States

Group medical practices are defined as "the practice of medicine by a group of physicians who share their premises and other resources."^[1]

Office-based physicians and group practices

There are approximately 230,187 physician practices in the United States.^[2] Among these physician practices, 52.8% consist of only one office-based physician. The remaining 47.2% of physician practices are group practices. Physician group practices with 2-5 physicians make up 37.1% of physician offices in the United States. 6.3% consist of 6-9 physicians and the remaining 3.7% consist of 10 or more physicians. In recent years, many small or solo practitioners have come (or are considering coming) together to form larger same (or multi) specialty groups in order to get a leg up on managed care.^[3]

Formal Definition by CMS

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) changed the definition of "group practice" in its 2012 physician fee schedule to mean 25 or more eligible professionals in the same practice.^[4]

References