Rates higher during and since the pandemic, particularly among primary care physicians<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter<\/b>
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WEDNESDAY, July 23, 2025 (HealthDay News) — From 2010 to 2023, physician exit rates from traditional Medicare increased, according to a study published online July 18 in JAMA Health Forum<\/em>.<\/p>\n Hannah T. Neprash, Ph.D., from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, and Michael E. Chernew, Ph.D., from Harvard Medical School in Boston, analyzed Medicare data to quantify the post-COVID-19 pandemic rate of physician exit from traditional Medicare. The analysis included the annual number of Part B claims billed by each clinician (791,025 physicians) to Medicare from 2010 to 2024.<\/p>\n The researchers found that the share of physicians exiting Medicare in any given year increased significantly from 1.80 percent to 3.60 percent. There was a gradual increase in physician exit during 2010 to 2013, a period of stability from 2014 to 2016, a gradual increase from 2017 to 2019, a spike during the pandemic (2020 to 2021), and a return in 2023 to levels above the 2019 rate. The exit rate among primary care physicians in 2023 (4.41 percent) was higher than that seen for hospital-based specialists (3.50 percent), surgical specialists (2.99 percent), and medical specialists (2.49 percent). Similarly, over time (2010 to 2023), the age-adjusted share of primary care physicians exiting Medicare increased by 0.21 percentage points, which was a significantly higher annual growth in exit than that seen among surgical specialists (0.14 percentage points), hospital-based specialists (0.08 percentage points), and medical specialists (0.06 percentage points). <\/p>\n “The findings may reflect multiple factors, including the greater burden of new communication methods (e.g., portal messages) and demands for clinical documentation,” the authors write.<\/p>\n One author disclosed ties to the health care industry.<\/p>\n