he year gone by has been a challenging one for health care professionals, including physicians, many of whom have been on the frontlines of Covid-19 care and have seen their practices diminished or even closed due to the virus.
Merritt Hawkins, in conjunction with the Physicians Foundation, tracked how Covid-19 affected physicians in 2020 by means of three national surveys. The surveys examined how the coronavirus affected physicians financially, how it has changed their practice plans and patterns, and how it impacted their mental and physical well-being. The surveys also examined how physicians believe Covid-19 and other challenges facing healthcare professionals should be addressed.
A short, two-page synopsis of survey results can be found
here.
Physicians, who handle approximately 1.3 billion patient encounters a year (including emergency room encounters), will clearly play a key role in restoring the health of Americans and in implementing changes in health care delivery driven by Covid-19.
Merritt Hawkins will continue to monitor physician practice patterns and perspectives and to report on physician supply, demand, recruiting and retention trends as the new year unfolds.
Wisconsin Hospital Association members who would like the complete, 54-page report on the findings of all three surveys Merritt Hawkins conducted on behalf of the Physicians Foundation are welcome to contact Merritt Hawkins Marketing Director Nathan Piller at
Nathan.Piller@merritthawkins.com.
Kurt Mosley is vice president of Strategic Alliances for Merritt Hawkins, the nation’s leading physician search firm, and a Gold Level Corporate Member of the Wisconsin Hospital Association.