S1 Ep164: Pay is up, productivity is down. Is it sustainable? With Andy Swanson of MGMA
About this episode
The episode discusses the recent trends in physician compensation and productivity, exploring the implications of rising pay amidst declining encounter volumes.
For the first time in years, physician compensation and productivity have moved in opposite directions — pay is up, encounter volume is down — and practice leaders are trying to work out what it means heading into a turbulent year. Physicians Practice Managing Editor Keith Reynolds sits down with Andy Swanson, chief customer success officer at the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), to unpack the group's latest provider compensation and productivity data report and the forces behind the split. They dig into why encounters are falling while acuity and pay climb, whether rising compensation against flat reimbursement can hold, and how the new Medicare efficiency adjustment — a 2.5% cut to the work RVU value of roughly 7,700 codes — will land hardest on procedural specialties. Music Credits: Paper Cranes by Buurd - stock.adobe.com A Textbook Example by Skip Peck - stock.adobe.com Editor's note: Episode timestamps and transcript produced using AI tools. 0:00 – 0:25 | Cold open — Swanson sets up the central tension: if costs keep climbing while reimbursement stays flat or falls, the current path isn't sustainable. 0:25 – 1:10 | Introduction — Austin Littrell previews the…
Topics covered
- physician compensation
- productivity
- healthcare management
- Medicare adjustments
- medical economics
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