Becker's Hospital Review

26 Special Compensation Section 200 Statistics on Physician Compensation By Jim McLaughlin A s hospitals work to integrate their services, shrink their total cost of care, raise patient satisfaction and drop their readmissions, employing or aligning with physicians of all specialties are in hospitals' sights. Staying knowledgeable on competitive compensation trends is important for health systems to be able to attract the talent and services they need to grow and improve, while ensuring compensation is appropriate to maximize financial resources. Although a few specialties experienced big pay increases over the last year, several median base salaries saw slight declines. Highest-paid specialties Cardiac and surgical specialties top the list for highest median compensation. Orthopedic, cardiac and thoracic surgeons and invasive cardiologists polled had median salaries above $500,000, according to data from the American Medical Group Association's 2012 Medical Group Compensation and Financial Survey, based on 2011 data. Specialists with compensation of $400,000 and up also included diagnostic radiologists, non-invasive cardiologists, gastroenterologists and urologists. Dermatologists earned just shy of $400,000, followed closely by otolaryngologists, ophthalmologists and general surgeons, with median base salaries at $370,000 and higher. Few specialties can hold a candle, however, to neurosurgeons, whose average starting salary is a whopping $669,000. Lowest-paid specialties Primary care physicians such as pediatricians and hospitalists continued to be paid much less than many other specialties, but psychiatrists held the lowest median base pay at $217,194, according to the AMGA report. Also low on the list were endocrinologists, non-surgical neurologists, nephrologists and rheumatologists, all with salaries between $219,000 and $277,000. Other trends Overall, the weighted average compensation growth for all types of physicians was 2.8 percent between 2010 and 2011. Primary care increased an average of 4 percent, surgeon pay grew 3.4 percent and other specialties climbed 2.8 percent. Hematologists and medical oncologist compensation exploded with a 7.13 percent boost, and nephrologist pay skyrocketed 6.99 percent. Family medical physicians' paychecks leaped 5.13 percent. But some specialties took a hit, namely endocrinologists at a 4.98 percent drop, and interventional and non-interventional diagnostic radiologists at 1.39 percent and 0.45 percent, respectively. Additionally, rheumatologists' pay fell 1.09 percent and otolaryngologists' decreased 0.81 percent. Physician statistics — 2013 Compiled from the most recent market research data available, here are 169 statistics on physician compensation trends over the last year. Data from 27 specialties includes median base salary (without bonuses), highest and lowest offered base salaries, median growth from 2011, median work RVUs, median gross charges and female physician pay as a percentage of male physician pay. Note: Some of the statistics may seem higher or lower compared with others in each specialty. A collection of physician surveys was used to compile information. In addition, every specialty does not contain the same number of statistics, as some data was not available for each specialty. Please read the following to understand where the statistics came from: Median salary, salary growth from 2011, work RVUs and gross charges are from the American Medical Group Association's 2012 Medical Group Compensation and Financial Survey, a 2012 report based on 2011 data. The survey collected responses from 225 medical groups that represent approximately 55,800 providers in total during the first quarter of 2012. An exception to this is the data for neurosurgeons, which was not included in the AMGA's report. The median salary and salary growth from 2011 statistics for neurosurgeons were taken from the Medicus Firm's 2012 Physician Compensation Survey, which collected responses from 2,582 physicians between April and May 2012. Female pay as a percentage of male pay was calculated using data from Medscape's 2012 Physician Compensation Report. The report collected responses from 24,216 U.S. physicians across 25 specialty areas from Feb. 1, 2012, to Feb. 17, 2012. Highest offered base salary and lowest offered base salary are from Merritt Hawkins' 2012 Review of Physician Recruiting Incentives. The report is based on 2,710 permanent physician and advanced allied professional search assignments that Merritt Hawkins engaged in to conduct during the 12-month period from April 2011 to March 2012. Employed and independently contracted medical director median hourly rates are from Integrated Healthcare Strategies' Medical Director Survey: 2011 Report. The survey collected data from 159 healthcare organizations representing 3,200 medical directors during the first quarter of 2011. Anesthesiologists Median salary: $377,375 Median salary growth from 2011: 1.24 percent increase Median gross charges: $1,268,671 Employed medical director hourly rate: $125.00 Independently contracted medical director hourly rate: $130.00 Cardiac and thoracic surgeons Median salary: $ 544,087 Median salary growth from 2011: 2.16 percent increase Median work RVUs: 9,500 Median gross charges: $1,735,543 Employed medical director hourly rate: $220.00 Independently contracted medical director hourly rate: $207.50 Cardiologists Median salary: $430,316 Median salary growth from 2011: 1.75 percent increase Median work RVUs: 6,934 Median gross charges: $1,400,210 Female physician pay as a percentage of male pay: 75.7 percent Highest offered base salary (not including bonuses): $600,000 Lowest offered base salary (not including bonuses): $275,000 Employed medical director hourly rate: $200.00 Independently contracted medical director hourly rate: $160.00 Cardiologists – Invasive Median salary: $524,731 Median salary growth from 2011: 4.09 percent increase Median work RVUs: 8,298 Median gross charges: $1,641,227 Highest offered base salary (not including bonuses): $650,000 Lowest offered base salary (not including bonuses): $400,000 Employed medical director hourly rate: $197.86 Independently contracted medical director hourly rate: $196.98 Dermatologists Median salary: $397,370 Median salary growth from 2011: 2.93 percent increase Median work RVUs: 7,282 Median gross charges: $1,459,936 Female physician pay as a percentage of male pay: 80.5 percent

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