The COVID-19 pandemic continues to be on the forefront of physicians’ minds as a humanitarian crisis. As these healthcare providers seek to deliver safe care to patients, they also are examining how to maintain their practices’ financial stability. In McKinsey’s Physician Survey, conducted in May 2020, physicians said they were now more likely to refer procedures and surgeries, physician visits, and diagnostic testing to non-hospital locations and to shift in-person visits to telehealth. Roughly a fourth of independent physicians say they are now more likely to pursue alignment with a larger organization, preferably another independent physician practice, to obtain financial and operational support. COVID-19 has also increased physicians’ feelings of burnout.
