Becker's Hospital Review

Special Compensation Section 28 Independently contracted medical director hourly rate: $150.00 Ophthalmologists Median salary: $371,987 Median salary growth from 2011: 4.39 percent increase Median work RVUs: 8,649 Median gross charges: $1,665,174 Female physician pay as a percentage of male pay: 73.2 percent Highest offered base salary (not including bonuses): $450,000 Lowest offered base salary (not including bonuses): $145,000 Orthopedic Surgeons Median salary: 515,759 Median salary growth from 2011: 2.78 percent increase Median work RVUs: 8,026 Median gross charges: $1,916,904 Female physician pay as a percentage of male pay: 73.6 percent Highest offered base salary (not including bonuses): $750,000 Lowest offered base salary (not including bonuses): $400,000 Employed medical director hourly rate: $200.00 Independently contracted medical director hourly rate: $163.00 Otolaryngologists Median salary: $374,387 Median salary growth from 2011: 0.81 percent decrease Median work RVUs: 6,891 Median gross charges: $1,532,766 Highest offered base salary (not including bonuses): $530,000 Lowest offered base salary (not including bonuses): $300,000 Pathologists (combined) Median salary: $363,559 Median salary growth from 2011: 2.43 percent increase Median gross charges: $1,376,262 Pediatricians (general) Median salary: $220,644 Median salary growth from 2011: 3.40 percent increase Median work RVUs: 5,111 Median gross charges: $808,399 Female physician pay as a percentage of male pay: 76.1 percent Highest offered base salary (not including bonuses): $220,000 Lowest offered base salary (not including bonuses): $130,000 Employed medical director hourly rate: $104.07 Independently contracted medical director hourly rate: $125.00 Psychiatrists Median salary: $217,194 Median salary growth from 2011: 0.01 percent increase Median work RVUs: 3,381 Median gross charges: $448,757 Highest offered base salary (not including bonuses): $300,000 Lowest offered base salary (not including bonuses): $160,000 Employed medical director hourly rate: $115.27 Independently contracted medical director hourly rate: $125.00 Pulmonologists Median salary: $304,90 Median salary growth from 2011: 0.59 percent increase Median work RVUs: 6,057 Median gross charges: $929,103 Female physician pay as a percentage of male pay: 89.1 percent Highest offered base salary (not including bonuses): $415,000 Lowest offered base salary (not including bonuses): $180,000 Employed medical director hourly rate: $132.45 Independently contracted medical director hourly rate: $131.25 Rheumatologists Median salary: $229,051 Median salary growth from 2011: 1.09 percent decrease Median work RVUs: 4,662 Median gross charges: $738,967 Urologists Median salary: $415,598 Median salary growth from 2011: 0.45 percent increase Median work RVUs: 7,456 Median gross charges: $1,850,017 Female physician pay as a percentage of male pay: 80.8 percent Highest offered base salary (not including bonuses): $650,000 Lowest offered base salary (not including bonuses): $330,000 n 7 Trends in Hospital-Employed Physician Compensation By Bob Herman  S alaries and compensation packages of hospital-employed physicians have become a burning topic in recent years, mostly due to the upsurge in hospitals acquiring physician practices and subsequent employment of physicians. Today, roughly 25 percent of all specialty physicians who see patients at hospitals are employed — a sizable increase from the 5 percent of specialists who were hospital-employed in 2000. The number of employed primary care physicians has doubled to roughly 40 percent during the same time span. As more physicians become hospital and health system employees, it has become paramount to tackle the sometimes difficult process of benchmarking physician pay. In 2010, the MGMA-ACMPE reported the 25 highest-paid specialties among hospital-employed physicians included orthopedic surgeons, spine surgeons, neurosurgeons, cardiovascular surgeons and specialty pediatric surgeons, among others. The salaries of those 25 highpaid specialties ranged from a low of $465,543 for dermatologists to a high of $714,088 for orthopedic spine surgeons. With those figures in mind, here are seven trends regarding hospital-employed physician compensation that have emerged over the past several years. 1. For physicians, earning power is greater in a hospitalbased setting than private practice. Tom Flannery, PhD, partner with consulting firm Mercer, says there is a general belief in the healthcare environment that physicians in private practice can earn higher incomes than those who decide to become hospital employees. However, that may not always be the case, he says. After factoring out malpractice costs, health insurance, overhead and other operating expenses, Dr. Flannery believes hospital employment offers greater earning potential for physicians, especially those looking for more stability. "When everything is considered, including the hassles of running your own practice, the earning power [physicians] have can actually be higher in a hospital-based practice," Dr. Flannery says. "But there's still a perception that private practice physicians can earn more. [That] is more to do with the freedom to act as opposed to earning power."

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