Physician Group Practice Trends: A Comprehensive Review

Abstract

Physician group practices in the U.S. have grown and changed significantly in terms of health professional team composition, employment contract types, ownership type, size, and management in the last 20 years. In the past, physicians were largely selfemployed or part of small practices, however today's physicians are employed by large healthcare organizations, as well as integrated delivery systems.1 Between the years of 1996-1997 and 2004-2005, the proportion of physicians in solo and two-physician practices has decreased significantly from 40.7 percent to 32.5 percent.2 Today, most physicians work in the group practice setting in the United States. Moreover, physicians are increasingly practicing in mid-sized, single-specialty groups.