The Latest from Vital Signs: Medical Group Owners Budget for Salary Increases, Healthcare Workers Look for New Roles & the AMA Releases Next Year’s CPT Codes

Vital Signs is a monthly newsletter from AdvancedMD highlighting the healthcare industry’s top trends and insights. It’s our way of helping you stay informed.

As we enter the last quarter of 2026, recent healthcare reports offer an outlook for the year ahead. To start, most practice owners surveyed by the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) said that they plan to increase staff pay in the coming year, but just under a quarter of respondents are budgeting 4% to 6% increases. Meanwhile, Medical Economics reported that more than half of the healthcare workers who took part in a Harris Poll say that they plan to look for a new role. In other news, the American Medical Association has published its list of CPT codes for 2026, with 288 newly added codes.

Here’s a recap of everything we learned: 

• A report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on the “Extent and Effects” of physician practice consolidations and acquisitions revealed 47% of U.S. physicians worked for or were affiliated with hospital systems in 2024. 
•  An MGMA survey found that nearly a quarter of medical group owners surveyed by the organization are budgeting 4% or higher pay increases for staff in the coming year. 
• Another MGMA survey revealed that 43% of the 300+ medical groups surveyed by the organization prioritize compliance initiatives, dedicating a week, or even a month, to compliance issues. 
• According to The Physicians Foundation 2025 Survey of America’s Physicians, 57% of physicians report inappropriate feelings of anger, tearfulness, or anxiety in the last year. 
• Medical Economics reported that more than half of the 1,500 healthcare workers who took part in a Harris Poll said they plan to look for a new role. The top reasons employees are dissatisfied with their job: Inadequate pay and benefits, emotional fatigue, and limited pathways for growth.
• The American Medical Association released its list of CPT codes for 2026. According to the announcement, the 2026 CPT Code set includes 418 total changes, with 288 newly added codes, 46 revisions, and 84 deleted codes.
• The American Medical Association also released survey findings from a poll of more than 18,000 physicians, reporting that 26.5% of respondents said that the lack of “adequate doctors and support staff” is a key stressor. 
• Medical Economics reported healthcare salaries are up 4.3% this year, but the increase is not evenly distributed across roles. Hourly base pay for clinical technician positions climbed 5.5% compared to last year, while the median pay for registered nurses (RNs) grew by 3.1%.
• To help physicians navigate the complexities of revenue cycle management, the American Medical Association published a new resource for private practice owners: A 22-page guide on effective RCM strategies with pragmatic advice and case studies.

Vital Signs is brought to you by AdvancedMD. It’s our way of helping you stay informed on the trends and insights that shape our industry. Each month, we publish a roundup of healthcare headlines so that you are in-the-know when it comes to the topics that matter most to you, your staff, and your patients.