In primary care, like many other things, bigger isn’t always better. And in the case of primary care physician practices, this study backs it up.

It’s no secret among those who know me well that I have a strong affinity for small businesses and have long held that small and mid-size businesses are the backbone of our country’s economy. In an age of instant gratification where many flip businesses like houses, I find more often than not that it’s the small businesses and their leaders that champion the vision of building and sustaining meaningful companies committed to serving their clients while consistently providing jobs for themselves, their families and others in their communities. And, it’s the small businesses and their leaders that consistently prove to be the innovators.

CommonwealthFund-SmallPrimaryPractices-Aug122014

The study is titled “Small Primary Care Physician Practices Have Low Rates of Preventable Hospital Admissions” and was recently published by The Commonwealth Fund.

This study supports my notion and could also be instructive to you, your family and even your employees when it comes to selecting a Primary Care Physician geared to the combination of the best care AND the best cost…

 “[T]he common assumption that bigger is better should not be accepted without question, at least in practices of 19 or fewer physicians,” the authors conclude. The authors also question the practice of insurers typically paying lower rates to physicians in smaller practices, which typically have no negotiating leverage. Such an approach may well be shortsighted, they say, since the lower preventable admission rates achieved by small practices compared with large groups can mean lower overall costs for patient care…”