A medical group is a practice where two or more physicians operate under a single legal entity, sharing facilities, staff, billing systems, and financial management. Rather than each doctor running an independent office, the physicians in a medical group pool their resources and coordinate patient care through a unified business structure. You’ve likely seen the term on your insurance card, on a clinic’s sign, or in a provider directory, and it simply means the doctors at that location practice together as one organized business.
How a Medical Group Is Legally Defined
Under federal regulations, a group practice must meet several specific criteria. It needs to be a single legal entity, which can take the form of a partnership, professional corporation, limited liability company, nonprofit, or similar structure recognized by the state. It must include at least two physicians who are members of the group, whether as employees or owners. And at least 75 percent of the patient care services provided by group members must be billed under the group’s name, with revenue treated as income of the group rather than of individual doctors.
Beyond the legal paperwork, a medical group must function as a unified business. That means centralized decision-making by a governing body that controls budgets, compensation, and assets. It also requires consolidated billing, accounting, and financial reporting. An informal arrangement where a few doctors share office space but keep separate finances wouldn’t qualify. Each physician in the group is expected to provide the full range of services they normally offer, using the group’s shared facilities and equipment.
Single-Specialty vs. Multi-Specialty Groups
Medical groups come in two broad flavors. A single-specialty group brings together doctors who all practice in the same field, like a cardiology group or an orthopedic surgery group. A multi-specialty group combines doctors from different specialties under one roof, so you might see primary care physicians, cardiologists, dermatologists, and surgeons all in the same organization.
The most well-known multi-specialty groups in the U.S. include Kaiser Permanente, Cleveland Clinic, and Mayo Clinic. But most medical groups are far smaller. Only about 1.2 percent of medical practices have more than 11 physicians. The typical group is a handful of doctors who decided that practicing together made more sense than going it alone.
Who Owns the Group Matters
Medical groups differ significantly depending on who owns and governs them. The three main models are physician-owned groups, hospital-owned groups, and groups owned by corporate entities like insurance companies or private equity firms.
Physician-owned groups tend to give doctors more control over how they practice. In an independent primary care group, for example, doctors can refer patients to whichever specialist or hospital offers the best care at the best price. One health plan executive described an independent primary care group as having more opportunity to reduce costs compared with hospital-based groups burdened with a “high cost structure.” Doctors in these groups also report simpler governance, since everyone in the practice tends to be on a similar page financially. In multi-specialty groups, income disparities between primary care doctors and highly paid specialists can create tension.
Hospital-owned groups, on the other hand, are growing rapidly. A 2025 Government Accountability Office report found that at least 47 percent of physicians were employed by or affiliated with hospital systems in 2024, up from less than 30 percent in 2012. Physicians in hospital-owned groups may face pressure to refer patients to specialists and facilities within the same system, even when outside options might be more appropriate or affordable. Private equity ownership of physician practices remains smaller, at about 6.5 percent of physicians nationally in 2024, but it varies widely by specialty and region.
What a Medical Group Handles Behind the Scenes
One of the main reasons doctors join medical groups is the administrative infrastructure. Running a medical practice involves far more than seeing patients. Someone has to handle billing and insurance claims, hire and train staff, create work schedules, ensure compliance with state and federal regulations, manage budgets, maintain patient records, and track facility operations. In a solo practice, the doctor is responsible for all of this or must hire people to do it. In a medical group, these functions are centralized.
Medical groups typically employ dedicated managers who oversee these operations. Health information managers ensure patient records are complete, accurate, and secure. Financial staff handle consolidated billing so that all services are processed through one system. Compliance officers monitor changing regulations. This centralization frees physicians to focus more of their time on patient care rather than paperwork and business management.
What This Means for You as a Patient
From a patient’s perspective, the biggest advantage of a medical group is coordinated care. When your doctors are part of the same organization, they share electronic health records. That means your primary care doctor can see what your specialist prescribed, your lab results follow you from one appointment to the next, and you’re less likely to fall through the cracks between providers.
Research in the Journal of General Internal Medicine found that better care coordination is associated with improved clinical outcomes, from higher rates of preventive screenings to better management of chronic conditions. Coordination helps with things that seem simple but often break down: making sure your doctor has your records during a visit, ensuring test results get sent from the lab to the ordering physician, and keeping track of all the medications you’re taking across multiple providers.
Medical groups also simplify the billing process. Instead of getting separate bills from every doctor you see, services are processed through a single billing system. Referrals within the group tend to be faster since the doctors already work within the same network and can often schedule you with a colleague down the hall.
The tradeoff is that your choices may be more limited. If you’re in a hospital-owned medical group, your doctors may prefer to keep referrals within the system. In a physician-owned independent group, doctors generally have more flexibility to send you wherever they think you’ll get the best care. When choosing a provider, it’s worth understanding what kind of medical group they belong to and whether that affects where you can be referred for specialized treatment.
The Shift Away From Solo Practice
The landscape of medical practice in the U.S. has changed substantially over the past decade. About 55 percent of physicians still work in private practice settings, but that number has dropped from 58 percent a decade ago. Hospital employment has grown to 27 percent. Studies reviewed by the GAO show that physician practices are increasingly being acquired by hospital systems, insurance companies, and private equity firms.
This consolidation means you’re more likely than ever to receive care from a doctor who is part of a medical group rather than a solo practitioner. For patients, the practical effect is that the name on the building, the group listed on your insurance card, and the organization your doctor belongs to all influence how your care is delivered, what it costs, and how easily your providers can communicate with each other.