The number of employed physicians exceeds self-employed physicians for the first time in the U.S., according to the latest American Medical Association study on physician practice arrangements.
The study found that 47.4 percent of all patient care physicians in 2018 were employed physicians. That’s a 6 percentage point increase compared to 2012.
At the same time, 45.9 percent of all patient care physicians in 2018 were self-employed physicians, down 7 percentage points compared to 53.2 percent in 2012.
The AMA noted that the number of self-employed physicians also declined nearly continuously between the early 1980s and the mid-1990s. Therefore, the findings represent the continuation of a longer-term trend, and “caution should be taken in assuming current trends will continue indefinitely,” the association said.