*Description of FTE

Report the full-time equivalency (FTE) of all practice physicians, such as shareholders/partners, salaried associates, employed and contracted physicians, and locum tenens. Only count physicians involved in clinical care. Do not include full-time physician administrators. The minimum weekly work hours for 1.0 FTE is the number of hours that the practice considers to be a normal work week, which could be 37.5, 40, or 50 hours. A physician cannot be counted as more than 1.0 FTE regardless of the number of hours worked.

To compute the FTE of part-time physicians, divide the actual weekly work hours by 40 (or the practices’ normal number of weekly work hours). For example, a physician working in a clinic or hospital on behalf of the practice for 20 hours compared to a normal work week of 40 hours would be .5 FTE. A physician working full-time for six months during a 12-month reporting period would be .5 FTE. A medical director devoting 50 percent effort to clinical activity would be .5 FTE.

To compute the total number of FTE physicians, add the number of 1.0 FTE physicians to the full-time equivalency of the part-time physicians.

**Definition of an IPA:

An organization of independently practicing physicians that is created to contract with HMOs for professional services to enrollees of the HMO. The IPA obtains contracts from HMOs, negotiates the terms and conditions of the contracts, and processes the claims for services of its members.

If the doctors are employees of the organization and receive W-2s for their earnings, the organization is a medical group.

If the doctors are independent practitioners and merely contract with the organization for managed care business, then the organization is an IPA.

***Definition of enrollee: