Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) President William Jessee, MD, recently gave "MGMA's State of the Medical Practice" address for 2010. The speech was somber (discussing the challenges over the last few years) but also optimistic (we've all turned the corner on the 2000s).

To show how tough times have been, here are some "vitals" I jotted down from Dr. Jesse's presentation (the information comes from MGMA research):  

• there's been an 11.3% drop in the number of patients seen by physicians from 2006 to 2008
• a 9.9% drop in patient procedures
• bad debt from fee-for-service charges has increased 13%
• support staff costs are down 1.5%, although the number of employees has remained the same (meaning, staff is earning less than before).

Yuck.