Calculate the financial impact of physician turnover
…and see how much revenue you could protect
The Impact of Implementing Clinician Retention Intelligence (CRI)
Physician Resignations You Can Prevent
Revenue You Can Protect
In an environment of economic uncertainty and sustained margin pressure, unplanned clinician turnover creates three compounding costs that health systems cannot afford:
- Immediate: Lost direct care revenue from reduced patient throughput
- Near-term: Recruitment, replacement, and ramp-up costs
- Long-term: Revenue leakage and brand damage driven by access barriers and patient frustration
Replacing a single physician requires 80-200 hours of executive, clinical, and HR time, depending on specialty. Every avoided resignation preserves scarce leadership capacity and redirects recruiting efforts from backfilling losses to supporting net-new growth.
Even small gains in retention deliver outsized margin protection, preserving billable capacity while avoiding sticky costs such as locum tenens coverage, ER bed overlays, and other operational inefficiencies.
Resignation Breakdown
Service Line
ⓘ Total Estimated Turnover * 77% [percentage of non-resident, non-retirement age resignations as seen in Atalan’s client data]
Preventable Resignations
Revenue Loss from Preventable Resignations
ⓘ (Sum of Time to Fill, Productivity Loss, [for PC only: Indirect Referral Downstream Loss] * Total Estimated Turnover) * 77% [percentage of non-resident, non-retirement age resignations as seen in Atalan’s client data]
Primary Care
Total Estimated Resignations:
ⓘ Total Number of Physicians * Turnover Rate * Percentage of Physicians of Health System in Service Line [as seen in Atalan’s client data–differs depending on whether the health system is an academic medical center or a community health system] * 77% [percentage of non-resident, non-retirement age resignations as seen in Atalan’s client data]
Preventable Resignations:
ⓘ Total Estimated Resignations * 77% [percentage of non-resident, non-retirement age resignations as seen in Atalan’s client data]
Lost Revenue from Time to Fill:
ⓘ (Revenue by Service Line - Salary by Service Line) * (Number of Days to Fill by Service Line/365)
Lost Revenue from Delays in Ramping up Replacement:
ⓘ Revenue by Service Line * 25%
Indirect Referral Downstream Loss:
ⓘ (Number of Days to Fill for Primary Care/365) * Average Panel Size of Primary Care Physician Per Year * Average Referral Rate of Primary Care Physician * Average Value of New Patient for Medical Specialties
Surgical Specialty
Total Estimated Resignations:
ⓘ Total Number of Physicians * Turnover Rate * Percentage of Physicians of Health System in Service Line [as seen in Atalan’s client data–differs depending on whether the health system is an academic medical center or a community health system] * 77% [percentage of non-resident, non-retirement age resignations as seen in Atalan’s client data]
Preventable Resignations:
ⓘ Total Estimated Resignations * 77% [percentage of non-resident, non-retirement age resignations as seen in Atalan’s client data]
Lost Revenue from Time to Fill:
ⓘ (Revenue by Service Line - Salary by Service Line) * (Number of Days to Fill by Service Line/365)
Lost Revenue from Delays in Ramping up Replacement:
ⓘ Revenue by Service Line * 25%
Medical Specialty
Total Estimated Resignations:
ⓘ Total Number of Physicians * Turnover Rate * Percentage of Physicians of Health System in Service Line [as seen in Atalan’s client data–differs depending on whether the health system is an academic medical center or a community health system] * 77% [percentage of non-resident, non-retirement age resignations as seen in Atalan’s client data]
Preventable Resignations:
ⓘ Total Estimated Resignations * 77% [percentage of non-resident, non-retirement age resignations as seen in Atalan’s client data]
Lost Revenue from Time to Fill:
ⓘ (Revenue by Service Line - Salary by Service Line) * (Number of Days to Fill by Service Line/365)
Lost Revenue from Delays in Ramping up Replacement:
ⓘ Revenue by Service Line * 25%
Hospital Based
Total Estimated Resignations:
ⓘ Total Number of Physicians * Turnover Rate * Percentage of Physicians of Health System in Service Line [as seen in Atalan’s client data–differs depending on whether the health system is an academic medical center or a community health system] * 77% [percentage of non-resident, non-retirement age resignations as seen in Atalan’s client data]
Preventable Resignations:
ⓘ Total Estimated Resignations * 77% [percentage of non-resident, non-retirement age resignations as seen in Atalan’s client data]
Lost Revenue from Time to Fill:
ⓘ (Revenue by Service Line - Salary by Service Line) * (Number of Days to Fill by Service Line/365)
Lost Revenue from Delays in Ramping up Replacement:
ⓘ Revenue by Service Line * 25%
See your health system’s true revenue impact
Schedule a complimentary customized assessment with a Clinician Retention expert. This calculator provides an estimate based on Atalan’s data and industry averages. A customized analysis goes further by incorporating your health system’s unique service lines, payer mix, turnover patterns, and financial data. The result is a more precise view of the revenue and operational impact from improved clinician retention, tailored specifically to your organization.
References
For All Service Lines:
Breakdown of physicians by Service Line at a health system: Atalan’s Health System Client Data (can be replaced with your health system’s specific breakdown)
Number of Days to Fill by Category (can be replaced with your health system’s specific recruitment data): Association for Advancing Physician and Provider Recruitment (AAPPR). 2025 AAPPR Physician and Provider Recruitment Benchmarking Report. https://aappr.org/research/benchmarking/
Productivity Loss During Onboarding: 20% over 12 months (based on interviews with health system financial leaders)
Revenue by Service Line: AMN Healthcare. 2023. 2023 Physician Billing Report. https://www.amnhealthcare.com/amn-insights/physician/whitepapers/2023-physician-billing-report/ (can be adjusted by your health system’s payor mix)
Average Salary by Service Line: AMN Healthcare. (2023). 2023 Physician Billing Report. https://www.amnhealthcare.com/amn-insights/physician/whitepapers/2023-physician-billing-report/
National Average Turnover Rate: Association for Advancing Physician and Provider Recruitment (AAPPR). 2025 AAPPR Physician and Provider Recruitment Benchmarking Report. https://aappr.org/research/benchmarking/
For Primary Care Service Line Only:
Average Referral Rate of Primary Care Physician: El Ayadi H, Desai A, Jones RE, Mercado E, Williams M, Rooks B, Carek PJ. Referral Rates Vary Widely Between Family Medicine Practices. J Am Board Fam Med. 2021 Nov-Dec;34(6):1183-1188. doi: 10.3122/jabfm.2021.06.210213. PMID: 34772773.
Average Panel Size of Primary Care Physician Per Year: Harrington C. Considerations for Patient Panel Size. Dela J Public Health. 2022 Dec 31;8(5):154-157. doi: 10.32481/djph.2022.12.034. PMID: 36751598; PMCID: PMC9894066.
Average Value of New Patient for Medical Specialties: Zocdoc. (n.d.). Industry benchmarks: Comparing new patient value by practice size and specialty. Industry Benchmarks: Comparing New Patient Value by Practice Size and Specialty. https://www.zocdoc.com/resources/blog/ article/industry-benchmarks-comparing-new-patient-value-by-practice-size-and-specialty