Physicians’ Reported Reasons for Joining Their Medical Group
| Reason | All Groups (N = 168) % | Arizona Community Physicians (n = 29) % | Central Ohio Primary Care Physicians (n = 33) % | Infinity (n = 37) % | New West (n = 39) % | ProHealth (n = 30) % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greater negotiating leverage with health insurers | 45.2 | 58.6 | 42.4 | 21.6 | 38.5 | 73.3 |
| Group’s business expertise allows physician to focus on medicine | 41.7 | 58.6 | 45.5 | 16.2 | 53.8 | 36.7 |
| Potential for higher income | 38.1 | 75.9 | 33.3 | 32.4 | 23.1 | 33.3 |
| Greater autonomy than in other large organizations | 33.3 | 37.9 | 45.5 | 37.8 | 23.1 | 23.3 |
| Opportunity to become an owner | 25.0 | 13.8 | 15.2 | 43.2 | 33.3 | 13.3 |
| Alignment with group values, culture | 23.2 | 3.4 | 24.2 | 40.5 | 23.1 | 20.0 |
| Prefer primary care to multispecialty group | 22.6 | 10.3 | 27.3 | 18.9 | 30.8 | 23.3 |
| Better work-life balance | 22.6 | 20.7 | 27.3 | 21.6 | 23.1 | 20.0 |
| Technological infrastructure (eg, emergency medical response) | 8.9 | 6.9 | 0.0 | 10.8 | 10.3 | 16.7 |
| Need to relocate geographically | 6.0 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 5.4 | 10.3 | 10.0 |
| Group’s clinical quality programs | 5.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 10.8 | 10.3 | 3.3 |
Note: Data from the physician survey conducted for this project. Each physician was asked to choose up to 3 reasons for joining his or her current medical group. Percentages are the percentages of physicians who selected that reason for joining their group. See Supplemental Appendix 2 (http://annfammed.org/content/14/1/16/suppl/DC1) for a copy of the survey instrument.