Top 25 physician groups by size and Medicare charges

Physician groups come in many shapes and sizes. There are more than 126,000 physician groups in the U.S., ranging in size from a solo physician to more than 11,000-physicians.

In the list below, we explore the largest physician groups based on the number of physicians and total Medicare charges.

25 largest physician groups by number of physicians

Fig 1. Data is from the Definitive Healthcare PhysicianGroupView product. Data is sourced from Definitive Healthcare’s proprietary research and CMS Physicians Compare. Data accurate as of March 2022.

What is the largest physician group based on the number of physicians?

Southern California Permanente Medical Group tops the list as the largest physician group with 11,917 physicians. The medical group is affiliated with Kaiser Permanente Southern California.

The Permanente Medical Group comes in second place with more than 9,000 physicians and Mayo Clinic Physicians rounds out the top three with nearly 5,500 physicians.

The majority of physician groups are single/multi-specialty physician groups, indicating that the group of physicians share their premises and resources to provide patients with one or more types of care. Only one independent practice makes the list, while a handful of academic/faculty practices are included.

25 largest physician group by Medicare charges

Fig 2. Data is from the Definitive Healthcare PhysicianGroupView product. Data is sourced from Definitive Healthcare’s proprietary research and CMS Physicians Compare. Data accurate as of March 2022.

What is the largest physician group based on Medicare charges?

HealthCare Partners IPA tops the list of largest physician groups based on Medicare charges with nearly $4.5 billion in Medicare charges. It is the only independent practice on the list and employs just over 5,000 physicians. The practice specializes in cardiology.

Texas Oncology takes the number two spot with more than $2.9 billion in Medicare charges with HCA West Florida Physicians slightly behind it in the number three spot with $2.6 billion in Medicare charges.

The number of physicians does not appear to impact the Medicare charges as some organizations, like Texas Oncology, do not make the list of largest physician groups based on the number of employees.

Two of the largest physician groups by Medicare charges have less than 1,000 physicians and specialize in oncology and anesthesia. Both specialties tend to see high-risk patients and perform more specialized procedures which likely accounts for more Medicare charges.

What is a physician medical group?

A physician group practice involves one or more physicians operating as an organization to provide patient care.  These can be classified as either private practices, in which a solo physician owns and manages their own office, or group practices where two or more physicians administer care within the same facility.

Group practices, like those included in the lists above, are generally divided into two categories: single-specialty and multi-specialty. Some physicians work solely as part of a physician group practice, though dual-employment between a group practice and a hospital or other care facility is not uncommon.

Independent physician group practices offer greater scheduling flexibility and financial security to physicians than solo physician practices, as well as more employee benefits like health insurance.

The larger size of a physician group practice means a wider patient population, allowing physicians to accept greater financial risk in the form of high-risk patients and specialized procedures.

Though physician group practices can be a more reliable employment choice than a solo practice, they may not offer as much support in managing administrative tasks and financial risks as hospitals and other traditional care facilities.

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