Group Practice Journal
Paying physicians to cover unassigned patients within emergency departments (EDs) is an ever-increasing issue for both hospital administrators and the physicians themselves. While there is a growing base of knowledge related to ED call coverage payments and burden-reducing strategies, the majority of it is hospital-centric. Recognizing a gap, the American Medical Group Association (AMGA) and ECG developed and distributed the 2010 Emergency Department Call Coverage Survey to obtain physician perspectives and data through qualitative and quantitative questions related to payment rates, call burden, and specific strategies for reducing call burden. This article outlines the key findings from the survey.