Michigan Physician Survey Methods

Since 2012, CHRT has surveyed Michigan physicians approximately every two years to learn more about their experiences practicing in the state.  The following sections provide a more detailed description of the methodology employed for each wave of the Michigan Physician Survey. Given the sampling methods used in the physician surveys, some respondents may have been included in multiple survey years; because of the de-identified nature of responses, it is not possible to identify physicians who responded to more than one survey.

• Physician Survey 2023: The survey was conducted online between June and August 2023 using the survey platform Qualtrics. The sample for the survey consisted of 29,164 licensed Michigan physicians identified through the “Medicine” and “Osteopathic” Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) datasets. The datasets were downloaded in April 2023. To be included in the sample, physicians had to be practicing in Michigan and have a valid and unique email address. Both primary care and specialty care physicians were invited to participate in the survey. The final sample included 1,596 licensed physicians. The survey had a response rate of 5.5% and has a margin of error of ±2.4 percent. To adjust for non-response, the final sample was weighted by the region in which the physician practices, as well as years in practice.
• Physician Survey 2021: The survey was conducted online between April and May 2021 using the survey platform Qualtrics. The sample for the survey consisted of 26,644 licensed Michigan physicians identified through the “Medicine” and “Osteopathic” Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) datasets. The datasets were downloaded in February 2021. To be included in the sample, physicians had to be practicing in Michigan and have a valid email address. Unlike in previous waves of the Physicians Survey, both primary care and specialty care physicians were invited to participate in the survey. The final sample included 2,188 licensed physicians. The survey had a response rate of 8% and has a margin of error of ±2.0 percent. To adjust for non-response, the final sample was weighted by the region in which the physician practices, as well as years in practice.
• Physician Survey 2018: The survey was conducted between August and December 2018 and included a sample of 1,800 primary care physicians in Michigan. The sample was composed of a random statewide sample of 1,500 physicians and a rural oversample of 300 physicians. Rural was defined as Micropolitan and Noncore counties according to the 2013 NCHS Urban-Rural Classification Scheme for Counties. Potential respondents received up to three mailings, with $10 included in the first mailing to encourage response. The mailing included information on how to complete the survey online in Qualtrics, rather than by hard copy, if respondents preferred this option. Both surveys returned by mail and online were merged to create a final data file. The final sample included physicians from two primary care specialties: family medicine and internal medicine. The survey had a response rate of 42 percent and has a margin of error of ±4.0 percent. There were 588 physicians in the final analytic sample. To account for the oversample, results for the 2018 survey are weighted on urban/rural classification and specialty.
• Physician Survey 2016: The survey was conducted between July 2016 and October 2016 and included a sample of 1,500 primary care physicians practicing in Michigan. The physician sample was randomly generated from the American Medical Association (AMA) Physician Masterfile, a comprehensive list that includes both AMA members and non-members. Potential respondents received up to three mailings, with $10 included in the first mailing to encourage response. The mailing included information on how to complete the survey online via Qualtrics, rather than by hard copy, if respondents preferred this option. Both surveys returned by mail and online were merged to create a final data file. The final sample included physicians from two primary care specialties: family medicine and internal medicine. The survey had a response rate of 47 percent and has a margin of error of ±2.5 percent. There were 603 physicians in the final analytic sample.
• Physician Survey 2014: The survey was conducted between December 2013 and April 2014 and included a sample of 1,000 primary care physicians practicing in Michigan. The physician sample was randomly generated from the American Medical Association (AMA) Physician Masterfile, a comprehensive list that includes both AMA members and non-members. Potential respondents received up to three mailings, with $5 included in the first mailing to encourage response. The final sample included physicians from two primary care specialties: family medicine and internal medicine. The survey had a response rate of 36 percent and has a margin of error of ±5.5 percent. There were 317 physicians in the final analytic sample. Physicians who reported that they were unsure whether they participated in an innovative compensation model or that they were not participating at the time of the survey but planned to do so in the future were considered as non-participants for the purpose of this analysis.
• Physician Survey 2012: The survey was conducted between October 2012 and December 2012 and included a sample of 1,500 primary care physicians practicing in Michigan. The physician sample was randomly generated from the American Medical Association (AMA) Physician Masterfile, a comprehensive list that includes both AMA members and non-members. Potential respondents received up to two mailings, with $5 included in the first mailing to encourage response. The final sample included 500 physicians each from three primary care specialties: pediatrics, family medicine and internal medicine. The survey had an overall response rate of 54 percent and has a margin of error of ±3 percent. There were 714 physicians in the final analytic sample. Final results were weighted to adjust for non-response in each of the three primary care specialty groups.