TABLE 1.
Changes in Charity Care, Acceptance of Medicaid Patients, and Other Key Practice Characteristics, 1996–2005
| 1996/1997 | 2000/2001 | 2004/2005 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charity care | |||
| Percentage providing any charity care | 76.3 | 71.5a | 68.2a |
| Average number of charity care hours in prior month of practice (for physicians providing any) | 11.1 | 11.0 | 10.6 |
| Acceptance of new Medicaid patients | |||
| Percentage accepting no new patients | 19.4 | 20.9a | 21.0b |
| Percentage accepting all new patients | 51.1 | 51.9 | 52.1 |
| Income from the practice of medicine (in constant 1995 dollars) | 180,930 | 170,850a | 168,122a |
| Percentage of owners of practice | 68.9 | 58.3a | 57.6a |
| Practice type | |||
| Percentage of solo or two-physician practice | 40.7 | 36.1a | 34.0a |
| Percentage of small-group practice | 19.3 | 21.0a | 19.4 |
| Percentage of medium- or large-group practice | 9.5 | 9.3 | 12.5a |
| Percentage of institutions (hospitals, medical schools, community health centers) | 19.3 | 22.2a | 22.3a |
| Percentage of others | 11.2 | 11.4 | 11.8 |
a
Change from 1996/1997 is statistically significant at .05 level.
b
Change from 1996/1997 is statistically significant at .10 level.
Sources: Charity care: Cunningham and May 2006a.
Acceptance of new Medicaid patients: Cunningham and May 2006b.
Income from the practice of medicine: Tu and Ginsburg 2006.