Clinical support staff turned over at a median of 14.8% in 2025, and front office staff at 11.4%, according to MGMA's 2026 DataDive Financials and Operations dataset. Physician and advanced practice provider (APP) turnover had a median of 0.0%, so the churn sits in the roles that room patients and answer phones.
The figures come from MGMA's 2026 APP, Staffing and Access Data Report, which draws on 2025 data from nearly 4,000 medical groups and practices. The turnover chart covers single-specialty practices. A zero median means at least half of the reporting practices lost nobody in that role during the year.
Turnover by role: median and 90th percentile
The median shows the typical practice. The 90th percentile shows the one practice in ten with the heaviest churn, and the gap between the two is wide for every staff role.
| Role | Median turnover, 2025 | 90th percentile turnover, 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Clinical support | 14.8% | 50% |
| Front office | 11.4% | 75% |
| Ancillary | 5.6% | 66% |
| Business operations | 0% | 50% |
| APPs | 0% | 34% |
| Physicians | 0% | 25% |
Source: MGMA, 2026 APP, Staffing and Access Data Report, single-specialty practices, 2025 data.
A front office at the 90th percentile lost 75% of its people in one year. MGMA notes that in a small practice a single departure can change the next morning's rooming flow, phone coverage or schedule, even when the percentage looks modest. Provider turnover is rarer, but the 90th percentile still reaches 34% for APPs and 25% for physicians.
What 2026 polls say about the trend
MGMA ran a Stat poll on May 26, 2026 and received 303 applicable responses. It found 39% of practice leaders reported about the same staff turnover as in 2025, 30% reported lower turnover, 29% reported higher turnover and 2% were unsure. The same-or-lower share was 69%. MGMA's May 2025 poll found 70%, so the year-over-year picture is flat.
Hiring is a separate problem. In a May 19, 2026 MGMA Stat poll of 297 applicable responses, 56% of medical groups said medical assistant hiring got harder over the past year, 37% said it stayed about the same and 7% said it got easier. In MGMA's May 2025 poll, 47% of practice leaders named medical assistants as the hardest staff role to recruit.
Pay has moved with the pressure. MGMA's 2025 DataDive Management and Staff Compensation data showed medical assistant median total compensation up 4.67% in 2024, after growth of about 7% the year before. Over five years the increase was 24.6%. Hourly rates rose $0.63 in the past year and $3.63 since 2020.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 12% employment growth for medical assistants from 2024 to 2034, against 3% for all occupations. It projects about 119,800 openings per year, as cited by MGMA. MGMA also cites the 2026 Indeed Pulse of Healthcare report, which found two in five healthcare workers call their jobs unsustainable.
Support staffing per physician in 2025
Headcount grew while turnover stayed level. MGMA reports median total support staff per FTE physician in 2025 at 4.42 in primary care, 3.50 in single-specialty practices and 3.05 in surgical practices. Since 2021 that is a rise of 34%, 14% and 8%.
| Support staff per FTE physician, 2025 | Clinical | Front office | Business ops | Ancillary | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary care | 2.22 | 2.06 | 0.54 | 0.51 | 4.42 |
| Single specialty | 2.00 | 1.88 | 0.53 | 0.60 | 3.50 |
| Surgical | 1.43 | 2.11 | 0.54 | 0.70 | 3.05 |
Source: MGMA, 2026 APP, Staffing and Access Data Report, median values, 2025 data.
Surgical practices carry the most front office staff per physician at 2.11, which exceeds their clinical ratio of 1.43. Primary care carries the most clinical staff at 2.22. Nonsurgical practices are the exception to the growth trend, because their total support staffing stayed below its 2021 level.
Support staff cost and workload
MGMA's companion Financials and Operations report puts support staff cost at $300,700 per physician in primary care, $227,700 in single-specialty practices and $200,800 in surgical practices. That is roughly 30% to 34% of revenue at the median.
Ratios can hide strain. In a July 2026 MGMA Stat poll, 63% of groups said their support staff-to-physician ratio was unchanged, 18% raised it and 19% lowered it. Among leaders whose ratio rose or held steady, about one in four still called staffing inadequate or only marginally adequate.
The workload behind each position also grew. In July 2026, 75% of medical groups said clinicians frequently or sometimes used workarounds for EHR or practice management problems. In September 2026, only 7% of groups said prior authorization turnaround was faster than in 2025, while 44% said it was slower.
MGMA says turnover, vacancy and workload pressure answer different questions. Turnover counts who left. Vacancy and workload tell a practice which roles stay open and what the remaining staff carry.
Access measures to check against a staffing plan
MGMA pairs the turnover data with 2025 access medians so a practice can test whether staffing changes helped patients. Median no-show rates ran from 5.0% in surgical practices to 7.0% in nonsurgical practices, with primary care at 6.0%. The share of same-day appointments was 11.0% in primary care, 6.0% in single-specialty practices and 3.0% in both nonsurgical and surgical practices.
Third-next-available appointment is the number of days until the third open slot on a provider schedule. Established patients waited a median of 8.0 days in primary care, 7.2 days in nonsurgical practices, 7.7 days in single-specialty practices and 7.8 days in surgical practices. New patients waited 13.7, 13.8, 12.6 and 9.7 days in the same order.
In MGMA's July 2026 Stat poll, 46% of groups said new-patient waits were unchanged, 28% said they were longer and 22% said they were shorter. In August, 32% of groups reported higher no-show rates, 58% reported about the same and 10% reported lower.
Sources
- MGMA, 2026 APP, Staffing and Access Data Report, 2026
- MGMA Stat, Stabilized but not solved: Staff turnover in medical practices looking no better, no worse in 2026, May 28, 2026
- MGMA Stat, Medical assistants: Tackling practices' worst hiring problem before it gets worse, May 20, 2026
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