Here are five recent statistics or developments that illustrate larger concerns and challenges physicians are facing in healthcare:
1. Twenty-two percent of employed physicians are unsatisfied or very unsatisfied with their autonomy at work, according to Medscape’s Employed Physicians Report 2025, published Oct. 31.
2. The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission is considering changes to Stark Law that could restrict how physician-owned distributorships operate, according to a September report from the commission. The proposed revisions aim to curb potential conflicts of interest in Medicare referrals without banning PODs outright.
3. CMS released its finalized 2025 physician fee schedule Oct. 31, which included an “efficiency adjustment” of negative 2.5% work RVUs. Dozens of physician organizations condemned the rule and the reduction, with the American Medical Association arguing that reimbursement under Medicare will shrink for more than 7,000 physician services. This represents 95% of all services provided by physicians, according to the AMA, which has advocated for an alternative payment structure.
4. A federal policy that went into effect Sept. 21 will require employers to pay a $100,000 fee to sponsor highly skilled workers from other countries. This policy, however, may disproportionately impact areas in the U.S. already facing severe healthcare shortages, according to an analysis published Oct. 29 in JAMA. Researchers said that their findings support the need for the Trump administration to exempt physicians and other healthcare workers from the fee.
5. Independent practice physicians in Dallas say that algorithms being used by commercial payers Aetna and Cigna are slashing payments by downcoding certain procedures, DMagazine reported Oct. 21.
One practice owner characterized the downcoding policy as “guilty until proven innocent.” Practice administrators said that while reviewing billing statements, they began to notice that patients who were coded as complex were being downgraded to a lower acuity and lower reimbursement rate.
