About the Retention Index
Every number on Atlas is derived from publicly available government data. No surveys, no self-reporting, no recruiter claims. Here's exactly what we measure and how.
Atlas measures physician movement, not practice quality. For any practice, we show a single verifiable thing: of the physicians who have appeared on its Medicare roster since 2019, how long each one stayed.
That is arithmetic on public record. Atlas does not know, and does not claim to know, why any physician joined or left. The Retention Index and related measures are designed to help a physician decide what to ask before signing a contract — not to reach a conclusion on their behalf.
Medicare Part B Provider Data, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). This dataset captures physician-practice affiliations across annual snapshots. The Retention Index is calculated from 2019 onwards, using the complete longitudinal record of every physician who has appeared on a practice's Medicare roster. No proprietary, self-reported, or third-party data is used. Practices cannot edit, remove, or influence what appears in this data.
Atlas is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services or any other federal agency.
A raw departure count would be misleading. Before the Retention Index is calculated, Atlas accounts for ordinary career events so normal transitions are not over-weighted:
- Retirements are down-weighted. A long-tenured physician leaving near the end of a career carries minimal weight. It is not treated as attrition.
- Fellowship and training roles are excluded. A fellow who appears on a roster for a year or two and moves on does not affect a practice's Retention Index.
- Single departures carry little signal. Any one physician may leave for entirely personal reasons. The Retention Index responds to patterns across many physicians, not to any individual exit.
Every physician who joins a practice either stays or leaves. How long they stayed is an observed historical pattern. A longer observed stay and a shorter observed stay are different signals in the data, and Atlas weights them differently.
Atlas does not assign a reason to any departure. It records how long physicians stayed and surfaces the patterns so a physician evaluating an opportunity knows where additional diligence may be useful.
The Retention Index is scaled 0–100. Higher values reflect greater observed physician retention.
Measures the weighted departure load of physicians who have left the practice. Rather than a simple exit count, each departure is weighted by how long the physician stayed. Shorter stays carry more weight, because they are more likely to reflect something worth investigating.
| Tenure at departure | Weight | What it suggests to ask |
|---|---|---|
| 0 – 2 years | Highest | Early exits are worth asking about directly |
| 2 – 4 years | High | Ask what the path looked like on the way to partnership |
| 4 – 6 years | Moderate | Ask how partnership and growth decisions were made |
| 6 – 10 years | Low | Ambiguous. Many ordinary explanations |
| 10+ years | Minimal | Near-career-stage. Treated as low signal |
Measures how long physicians currently at the practice have stayed. Calculated from the active roster only. Physicians who have already left no longer contribute to this metric.
Two pattern-level signals that apply a downward adjustment when triggered. Both respond to patterns across multiple physicians, not to any single departure.
Fires when a concentration of departures occurs within a defined rolling window. This often coincides with a discrete event such as a leadership change or acquisition, and is worth asking about. Applies a downward adjustment.
Fires when multiple physicians departed after a similar length of stay. A repeated exit point at the same career stage is a pattern worth understanding. Applies a downward adjustment.
Shows the median number of years since medical school graduation among physicians on the current roster. This is contextual information only and is not included in the Retention Index.
The Retention Index is a standardized measure derived from CMS-observed physician retention patterns. It summarizes historical workforce stability across the physicians Atlas observes at a practice. It is a weighted composite of Attrition Resistance and Tenure Strength, adjusted by cluster signals.
[(Attrition Resistance × primary weight)
+ (Tenure Strength × secondary weight)]
× Cluster Modifier (if applicable)
Specific component weights are proprietary. The Retention Index is not a rating of practice quality and does not establish why any individual physician joined or left. It is intended as one input into broader practice diligence.
Practice detail pages include a short insight derived from the same CMS-derived fields shown in the metrics. Insights are deterministic observations, not AI-generated advice.
- Factual observations from CMS data
- Descriptions of tenure and retention patterns
- Transparent about their data sources
- Predictions of future performance
- Risk assessments or warnings
- Prescriptive recommendations
- Clinical or business advice
Each insight follows this logic:
- Extract facts from CMS data (tenure distribution, roster size, shorter-observed-tenure rate)
- Identify patterns (for example top-heavy tenure or significant roster reduction)
- Describe the observation factually
- List assumptions that could affect interpretation
Observation: Longer-tenure cohorts exceed newer cohorts with a high Retention Index.
What it describes: More physicians observed across longer CMS tenure bands.
Assumption: Longer observed tenure may correlate with historical stability.
Alternative interpretation: Could reflect limited growth, geographic constraints, or market conditions.
Observation: Current roster size is 1 while all-time historical size exceeds 3.
What it describes: Observed reduction in active physician count.
Assumption: Reduction is factual and measurable.
Alternative interpretation: Could be natural transition, acquisition, consolidation, or retirement.
Observation: More than 40% of all-time physicians exited within 4 observed years.
What it describes: Elevated rate of shorter observed tenures in the CMS window.
Assumption: Higher observed turnover may prompt additional questions about historical workforce patterns.
Alternative interpretation: Could be early-career rotation, competitive market, or voluntary transitions.
Observation: Fewer than 2 all-time physicians.
What it describes: Lack of historical data for pattern analysis.
Assumption: None.
Alternative interpretation: Absence of data is itself factual.
Key principle: Atlas shows what the data reveals about physician tenure patterns. It does not predict outcomes or prescribe actions.
The Retention Index is not a rating of practice quality, clinical quality, patient outcomes, compensation, or workplace culture, and it is not a judgment of any practice or any physician. It summarizes historical workforce stability and does not establish why any physician joined or left. It is intended as one input into broader practice diligence.
A lower index is not a reason to exclude a practice automatically. It is a prompt to ask better questions. Use Atlas alongside site visits, peer conversations, and contract review with an attorney.
The Retention Index is derived from CMS Medicare Part B data, which may occasionally contain inaccuracies. If you represent a practice and believe your data or index value reflects an error, we want to correct it. Flagged practices are reviewed against the underlying CMS record, and confirmed data errors are corrected in the next update cycle.
Email admin@matchmed.app with subject line Data Inquiry – [Practice Name]. We aim to respond within five business days.
All Retention Index values are derived from CMS Medicare Part B public datasets. MatchMed makes no representations regarding the completeness, accuracy, or timeliness of underlying CMS data.
The Retention Index and related measures are statistical estimates derived from observed physician movement, not factual declarations about any practice. They do not establish causation or assign a reason for any physician's departure.
MatchMed, LLC is not liable for any employment, contracting, or other decisions made in reliance on Atlas Retention Index values. Use is subject to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.