Business degree increasingly useful for doctors

(HealthDay)—Having a Master of Business Administration degree (M.B.A.) can help doctors with important, practice-related decisions, according to a report published recently in Physician Practice.

With the move to value-based care and increased scrutiny of health care costs, experts say a business approach to medicine is increasingly required. More medical schools are responding to this need by offering dual-degree M.D./M.B.A. programs. The number of such programs has grown from six in 1993 to more than 65 now.

Having an M.B.A., can increase physicians' comfort in using spreadsheets and developing the financial analysis needed to make practice-related investment decisions, like buying or renting new equipment, real estate decisions, and practice acquisition strategy.

"Health care is a business, and until you understand the language of business, it's hard to do business in health care," says Rich Joseph, M.D., M.B.A., a resident at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital, adding that there is still a gap in medical education's ability to keep up the demands of health care delivery today.

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