Compensation, EHRs among top concerns for group practices

Rising operating costs, maintaining physician compensation levels, and implementation of electronic health record systems were the top concerns among Medical Group Management Association members this year, according to results of the organization's annual survey of administrators, physicians, and practice leaders. MGMA represents practices totaling 275,000 physicians.

Although the top two concerns were the same as those found in last year's survey, the overall rankings changed somewhat from 2008.

This year, collecting from self-pay patients and those with high-deductible health plans and health savings accounts came in as the No. 4 challenge. In 2008, the fourth-ranked challenge was recruiting physicians, which ranked sixth this year. Managing finances in the face of uncertain Medicare reimbursement rates rounded out the top five for the second year in a row.