1-in-5 Docs Report COVID-19-related Pay Cuts, Furloughs

Less than 40% of physicians said they were treating COVID-19 patients. However, 60% of physicians who were not treating those patients said they'd be willing to.

More than 20% of physicians report that they've either taken a pay cut or been furloughed by the coronavirus pandemic, including 30% of physicians who are not treated COVID-19 patients, according to a new survey commissioned by The Physicians Foundation.

Of those physicians who've taken a financial hit or a furlough, 18% said they were treating COVID-19 patients, and 30% said they were not, according to the findings in an online survey of 842 physicians, conducted last week by Irving, Texas-based physician recruiters Merritt Hawkins.

"Prior to the pandemic, physicians were already facing a number of stress factors eroding their morale and potentially limiting patient access to their services," Merritt Hawkins said. "The coronavirus is likely to add to these stresses, and more attention therefore needs to be paid to physician well-being, both during the current crisis and after it has been contained to help ensure an adequate and engaged physician workforce."

Less than 40% of physicians said they were treating COVID-19 patients. However, 60% of the physicians who were not treating those patients said they would be willing to, which Merritt Hawkins said suggests "that the physician workforce has extra capacity to bring to bear on the pandemic, with (that) many doctors willing to assume the risk, responsibilities and (presumably) the rewards of treating those infected with the virus."

While two-thirds (66%) or respondents said they would continue to practice medicine as they are now, 34% said they would make changes, including 14% who said they'd seek a different practice, 7% who said they'd close their practice temporarily, 5% who said they'd retire, and 4% who said they'd leave private practice and work for a hospital.

The survey also found that 48% of physicians are using telehealth to access patients, up from 18% in a 2018 Merritt Hawkins survey.

"The emergence of the virus has clearly accelerated the use of technological platforms used to treat patients remotely," Merritt Hawkins said.

Thirty-six percent of the respondents were primary care physicians, and 66% were surgeons, diagnosticians, and other specialists, which corresponds with the percentages in the nation's physician workforce.

The survey's margin of error is +/- 3.5%.