The use of employment contracts increased in 2012 for both hospital-based and physician-group practices, according to a survey by the Hay Group, a global management consulting firm.
In hospitals, 70 percent of physicians had employment contracts, compared with 64 percent in 2011. About 2 out of 3 physicians in group-based practices in 2012, compared with 56 percent had contracts in 2011.
Incentives largely were determined by quality and patient satisfaction. About 77 percent of organizations reported that they used “quality” and 66 percent relied on “patient satisfaction” to measure physician performance. Conversely, only 39 percent reported “outcomes” as a performance metric for physicians.
Nearly 9 out of 10 organizations provided malpractice insurance to their physicians. Almost all provided the insurance to the physician at no cost.
