Trends in nephrology practice.

The analysis of this benchmarking data tells us several things. Nephrology practices are more complex. Physicians are generating more RVUs for less money and a greater percentage of income is coming from things other than direct patient care. Practices have responded partly by becoming larger and looking for revenue stream diversification. The ability to predict the financial future from the historical data is problematic. We know from the most recent survey that a significant number of nephrology practices are already participating in accountable care organizations, shared savings programs, and even risk sharing contracts. We know that the incentive for participation in government quality reporting programs and meaningful use is transitioning from the carrot to the stick and that reductions in reimbursement will be applied to those who are unsuccessful. In order to take on the challenges and complexity that the future holds, successful nephrology practices will likely be larger, more sophisticated and tightly aligned with all stakeholders in the pursuit to provide high quality, low cost care to patients with kidney disease.