Around 220,000 physician offices operate in the US with combined annual revenue of more than $360 billion. About 75 percent of all physician offices are small, with fewer than 10 employees (including the doctors); only about 1,300 offices have more than 100 employees. The industry is highly fragmented: the top 50 firms account for about 10 percent of industry revenue.
Globally, there are about 9 million physicians (not including midwives, dentists, or other health personnel), according to the World Health Organization. China has around 1.9 million doctors, followed by the US, with around 794,000, and India, with around 660,000. Other countries have more physicians per capita, including Austria and Belarus (nearly 5 doctors per 1,000 population), Bulgaria (almost 4), and Cuba (more than 6).
COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE
Demand for physician services is driven by population growth and demographics. The profitability of individual practices depends on the reputation and expertise of the physician and staff. Large practices have advantages in leveraging administrative processes and expensive diagnostic equipment. Small practices compete effectively by providing specialized skills and good customer service. Physicians generally have several direct competitors in the immediate geographic area.
PRODUCTS, OPERATIONS & TECHNOLOGY
Operations of physician offices revolve around patient care, appointment scheduling, records management, and insurance processing. Typically, a patient makes an appointment several days or weeks before being seen, a medical record file is retrieved, the patient sees the doctor for less than 20 minutes, the ...
