Sources and dataset guide
AMA 2024 Physician Practice Benchmark Survey
The AMA survey describes the practice arrangements of patient-care physicians who completed residency, work at least 20 hours a week, are not federally employed, and practice in the United States. It covers ownership, practice size, practice type, and each respondent's work status. In 2024, 42.2% of surveyed physicians were in wholly physician-owned private practices, compared with 60.1% in 2012. The report also says more than 45% of anesthesiologists and radiologists were in private practice, while 33.2% of emergency physicians were. These are broad physician survey measures. The survey does not provide a financial profile of anesthesiology groups. For an owner, the specialty comparison can help frame recruiting and succession conversations, while the broader trend offers context for discussions about independent ownership. Compare the definition of private practice carefully with your group's ownership structure. Read the AMA report.
CMS CY 2025 Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule
CMS's annual Physician Fee Schedule final rule sets Medicare payment policy for services paid under the physician fee schedule. The rule explains conversion factor changes, relative value updates, billing policy, quality program provisions, and implementation details for the calendar year. Its figures apply to Medicare payment calculations under specified rules; they do not describe commercial contract rates, facility payments, or the total revenue a group collects. Owners can use the rule to identify changes that may affect the Medicare portion of a service line, then check how specific codes and modifiers apply to the practice. The conversion factor alone is not a reliable estimate of a group's revenue change because utilization, code mix, geographic adjustments, and other policies also matter. Review the rule alongside the applicable fee schedule files and the group's own claims and collections. Read the CMS CY 2025 final rule.
MedPAC March 2025 Report to Congress
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's March 2025 report examines Medicare payment adequacy and recommends policy changes to Congress. Its physician and other provider chapters discuss payment updates alongside measures of access and beneficiary experience, as well as provider finances. The report's recommendation is an advisory position; it is not itself an enacted Medicare rate. The linked report is useful for understanding how federal policymakers assess the payment environment and what evidence they cite when discussing updates. A practice owner can use its analysis to prepare questions for a budget scenario, explain policy exposure to partners, or distinguish a commission recommendation from the rules that currently govern claims. The report is not an anesthesia-group margin study, and its national measures should not be substituted for local payer terms or the group's own service mix. Read MedPAC's March 2025 report.
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024
The Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program estimates employee employment and wages by occupation and geography. In the May 2024 national estimates, BLS reports 41,890 anesthesiologists with a mean annual wage of $336,640; 50,350 nurse anesthetists with a mean of $231,700; and registered nurses with a mean of $98,430. These are employee wage estimates, not partner distributions, practice collections, total compensation packages, or recruiting offers. Geographic tables can help an owner compare broad labor-market levels across locations, while the national figures provide a reference point for workforce planning. Use the occupation definitions and local estimates that fit the role, then consider call, workload, benefits, employment model, and local supply when making a budget. Do not treat the mean as a guaranteed or typical offer for a particular candidate. Open the BLS May 2024 tables.
CMS Physician Fee Schedule overview
CMS's Physician Fee Schedule overview collects the agency's program information and links to rulemaking, payment files, coding resources, and related policy materials. It is a starting point for locating the specific year and file relevant to a Medicare payment question, instead of a single statistical report with one headline figure. Owners and administrators can use it to follow annual updates, locate locality-specific payment information, and confirm which rule or file applies to a service date. For financial planning, connect a policy change to the group's actual billed codes, allowed amounts, payer mix, and collections before estimating its effect. The overview helps locate primary CMS material, but an individual page or file should be checked for its release date, effective period, and scope. Visit the CMS Physician Fee Schedule overview.
FTC private equity in health care
The Federal Trade Commission's health care competition material covers agency work on competition and health care competition and market structure. It is a subject collection, not a national census of anesthesiology acquisitions or a standardized transaction database. Its reports, enforcement actions, and public statements can help owners understand competition issues regulators examine during health care consolidation or ownership changes. For a practice considering a transaction, these materials can inform questions for transaction counsel and help partners understand why market concentration and control arrangements may receive scrutiny. They do not establish the value of a particular group, predict whether a transaction will be challenged, or quantify the local effects of a deal. Read the underlying document for its facts and legal posture in that market before applying it to a practice decision. Explore FTC health care competition resources.
JAMA Health Forum private equity health care research
JAMA Health Forum publishes peer-reviewed health policy research, including studies on private equity ownership and health care delivery. The journal page links to a changing collection of articles, so each study addresses a specific population and period and reports measures based on its methods; there is no single journal-wide estimate of private equity's effect on anesthesiology practices. Owners can use the research to understand questions investigators are testing, such as changes in spending, utilization, staffing, prices, or quality after acquisition. The practical value depends on how closely a study's specialty and setting, along with its comparison group and time window match the owner's market. Before using a reported result in a partner discussion, read the abstract and methods, note the study design, and separate an observed association from a causal conclusion. Browse JAMA Health Forum.
ASA workforce resources
The American Society of Anesthesiologists' standards and practice parameters page provides professional resources and links to policy statements and practice guidance. It is not a wage survey or a census of anesthesiology workforce supply. The page can help owners locate current professional materials relevant to how anesthesia services are organized and the standards surrounding practice operations. For workforce planning, use ASA material to identify professional context and pair it with labor market data and local staffing records that directly measure the question at hand. A link collection may change as resources are added or revised, so check the date and scope of the specific document before citing it. The content can inform governance and operational discussions, but it does not establish a group's staffing requirement, financial benchmark, or business outcome. Visit ASA Statements and Practice Parameters.
MedPAC data book
MedPAC's data book compiles charts and tables about Medicare and the health care delivery system, with editions organized around topics such as beneficiary coverage, spending, provider use, and payment policy. It supplies national context and definitions that complement the commission's longer reports. Because the collection includes multiple editions and measures, identify the year and population for any number drawn from a relevant table. Practice owners can use the tables to understand broad Medicare trends, prepare for policy discussions, and distinguish system-level movement from their own service-line experience. These figures do not report private payer contract terms or an individual anesthesia group's economics. When using a chart for planning, follow its notes and denominators, then compare the same measure with the group's claims, payer mix, and operating records. Browse MedPAC data books.
Interpretation rules
Treat each number as a description of the population and measure named by its source. Keep national figures distinct from local market data, and keep employee wages distinct from owner income and practice revenue. For a business decision, connect external context to the group's own staffing records and contracts, plus its financial records. A public statistic can sharpen a question or provide a comparison point; it cannot forecast the result for a specific practice.
Anesthesiology group counts from CMS enrollment data
CMS's Doctors and Clinicians National Downloadable File records clinician and group enrollment details in Medicare. Anesthesiologists.com counted group practice IDs with at least one clinician whose primary specialty is anesthesiology. In that analysis, 3,524 group IDs included 56,632 anesthesiology clinicians and 91,496 CRNA or anesthesiology assistant clinicians. Of the IDs, 1,185 (33%) listed one anesthesiology clinician, while 859 (24%) listed two to four; the 50 largest IDs accounted for about 23% of counted anesthesiology clinicians. California led in group ID counts, followed by Texas, New York, and Florida. Illinois and Pennsylvania also ranked among the leading states. These are enrollment records, not a census of every organization: a single organization may hold multiple IDs, and clinicians outside Medicare enrollment are not represented. Owners can use the distribution to explore how Medicare-enrolled groups are organized and where enrollment is concentrated, while avoiding direct comparisons with privately maintained rosters or employment counts. Open the CMS Doctors and Clinicians dataset.
For questions or corrections, contact richard@doctorsinvestorclub.com.
Education-only disclaimer: This material is for general business information only. It is not medical, clinical, legal, tax, accounting, financial, or investment advice.
Anesthesiology group landscape from CMS enrollment data
Anesthesiologists.com analyzed the CMS Doctors and Clinicians national file, counting group practice IDs that list at least one clinician with a primary specialty of anesthesiology. These are Medicare enrollment records, not a census of every practice, and one organization can hold more than one group ID.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Group IDs with at least one Medicare-enrolled anesthesiology clinician | 3,524 |
| Anesthesiology clinicians counted across those group IDs | 56,632 |
| Medicare-enrolled Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (Crna) / Anesthesiology Assistant clinicians in group IDs | 91,496 |
| Group IDs with 1 anesthesiology clinicians | 1,185 (33%) |
| Group IDs with 2 to 4 anesthesiology clinicians | 859 (24%) |
| Group IDs with 5 to 9 anesthesiology clinicians | 422 (11%) |
| Group IDs with 10 to 24 anesthesiology clinicians | 503 (14%) |
| Group IDs with 25 or more anesthesiology clinicians | 555 (15%) |
| Share of counted clinicians in the 50 largest group IDs | About 23% |
| Leading states by group ID count | CA 308, TX 267, NY 256, FL 241, IL 139, PA 129 |
Source: CMS Doctors and Clinicians National Downloadable File, https://data.cms.gov/provider-data/dataset/mj5m-pzi6
