MORE AUSTRALIAN OPHTHALMOLOGISTS SEEK THE SECURITY OF PRIVATE GROUP PRACTICE

A new snapshot into the "financial health" of private medical practices in Australia has shown the profits of ophthalmology and other non-GP specialist businesses in Australia have continued to increase over time, averaging around $216,000 in 2020-21, and are more profitable than other non-medical enterprises in legal, finance, accountancy, construction and agriculture.

The 2022 report entitled: ‘ANZ— Melbourne Institute health sector report – Trends in the structure and financial health of private medical practices in Australia’, by University of Melbourne health economist Professor Anthony Scott, has also confirmed more ophthalmologists and other specialists are seeking the security of private group practice in the face of inflationary pressures.

The findings come as no surprise to the Australian Society of Ophthalmologists vice president Dr Peter Sumich who said group private practice is becoming the norm as the cost of running practices increases.

“No longer does a sole ophthalmologist wish to take individual responsibility for the growing overheads which include IT, human resources, technology, insurances and leasing costs,” he said.

“Furthermore, group practice provides the opportunity to share care across subspecialties and during holiday periods. Group practices often provide regional services as an offshoot which is a good model for delivering more remote care.”

In his report, Scott assessed the growth trajectory of doctors in Australia and the financial performance of GP and non-GP specialist businesses, the latter which includes ophthalmology. continued page 8

He found medical business profits rose by an average of 2.4% per year for GPs and 5.4% per year for non-GP specialists before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Non-GP specialist business entities had the highest median gross profit (defined as turnover minus costs from Business Activity Statements) in 2020–21 ($216,468), followed by GP businesses ($144,485). The next closest were legal businesses which have slightly lower profits than GP businesses ($124,131). Finance, accountancy, construction and agriculture businesses generally have much lower median gross profits per business.

Gross profit margins (profits as a percentage of turnover) generally follow the same pattern. However, businesses in the financial sector had higher gross profit margins per business (37.5%) than GP businesses (35.8%).