Interactive Tool
Medical Practice Overhead Calculator
Enter your annual practice expense and compare the result, per hour of direct patient care, against the 2024 Physician Practice Information Survey benchmark for your specialty.
Run the Calculation
Your Result
- Your expense per hour
- $387.40
- Specialty benchmark (total PE)
- $133.61
- Variance
- +$253.79 (+189.9%)
- Implied direct (benchmark mix)
- $123.40 vs $42.56
- Implied indirect (benchmark mix)
- $263.97 vs $91.04
Your total is above benchmark and the larger apparent gap sits on the indirect side, which typically traces to administrative staffing, occupancy, or technology spend relative to volume.
How This Works
We divide your entered annual practice expense by total physician hours of direct patient care, meaning hours per physician multiplied by your physician count, to produce an expense-per-hour figure, then compare it to the specialty benchmark from the 2024 Physician Practice Information Survey. Practice expense is 39.9 percent of total Medicare Economic Index expense for All specialties.
The direct and indirect split shown for your result is not a measurement of your own cost structure. It applies the benchmark's direct-to-indirect ratio to your total, so you can see roughly where a gap of that size would sit if your practice followed the typical split for the specialty. A full overhead review examines your actual general ledger line by line rather than assuming the benchmark mix.
Questions About This Calculator
What benchmark does this calculator use?
It uses the 2024 Physician Practice Information Survey, the same dataset CMS relies on for Medicare Physician Fee Schedule rate setting, reporting direct and indirect practice expense per hour of direct patient care by specialty.
What counts as hours of direct patient care?
It is the physician time the survey attributes to direct patient care activity, not total hours worked or scheduled clinic time. If you do not track this figure precisely, use the survey's reported average for your specialty as a starting point and refine it once you begin measuring.
Is my expense per hour supposed to match the benchmark exactly?
No. The benchmark is a national average across many practices. Meaningful variance in either direction is normal. The purpose of this tool is to flag which line, direct or indirect, is driving the gap so you know where to look first.
What does it mean if my indirect expense is above benchmark?
Elevated indirect expense usually points to administrative staffing levels, occupancy cost, or technology spend that is out of proportion to patient volume. It rarely means the clinical side of the practice is the problem.
What does it mean if my direct expense is above benchmark?
Elevated direct expense usually points to supply chain terms, equipment cost, or clinical staffing ratios tied directly to patient care delivery.
Does this replace a full overhead audit?
No. This is a directional screening tool built on published survey averages. A full audit examines your general ledger line by line against your own volume and payer mix.
Get a Full Overhead Review
This calculator gives a directional read. We can walk your actual cost structure line by line against your specialty and tell you exactly where the opportunity sits.
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