Becker's ASC Review

38 ORTHOPEDICS Surgeon compensation, net worth & gender wage gap — 20 insights for 2020 By Alan Condon H ere are 20 insights on orthopedic surgeon compensation, net worth, gender wage gap and more, drawn from several reports: 1. Orthopedic surgeons generate on average $3.29 million a year in revenue for hospitals, the fourth-highest of any specialty, according to Merritt Hawkins' "2019 Physician Inpa- tient/Outpatient Revenue Survey." 2. Orthopedic surgeons earned the highest incentive bonuses in Medscape's "Physician Compensation Report 2020," taking home $96,000 on average each year. 3. Compensation rose 6 percent from 2019- 20 for orthopedic surgeons. 4. Orthopedic surgeons topped Medscape's compensation list with an average annual income of $511,000. Merritt Hawkins found that orthopedic surgeons earned an average salary of $533,000. 5. Sixty percent of orthopedic surgeons reported being fairly compensated for their work. 6. However, female orthopedic surgeons earn on average $122,677 per year less than their male counterparts, according to Doximity's "2020 Physician Compensation Report." 7. Doximity found orthopedic surgery to be the specialty with the third-largest gender wage gap. Male orthopedists earn an average salary of $614,447, compared to $491,770 for women. 8. Only 11 percent of female physicians specialize in orthopedics, up just 2 percent from 2015. 9. Average guaranteed income/base salary offered to orthopedic surgeons over the past five years was: 2019-20: $626,000 2018-19: $536,000 2017-18: $533,000 2016-17: $579,000 2015-16: $521,000 10. Orthopedic surgeons' average income increased 16.7 percent year over year for 2019-20. 11. Orthopedic surgeons were the 15th most-requested specialists from April 1, 2019, to March 31, 2020, according to Mer- ritt Hawkins' "2020 Review of Physician and Advanced Practitioner Recruiting Incentives and the Impact of COVID-19." 12. In Medscape's "Physician Debt and Net Worth Report 2020," 19 percent of ortho- pedic surgeons reported having a net worth of more than $5 million, the highest of any specialty. 13. Compensation and reimbursement factor into burnout for 34 percent of orthopedists, according to Medscape's "Orthopedist Life- style, Happiness & Burnout Report 2020." 14. More than one-third of orthopedists reported being burned out. 15. e top three burnout contributors were bureaucratic tasks (65 percent), increasing computerization of medical practice (44 percent) and insufficient compensation/re- imbursement (34 percent). 16. Orthopedic surgeons reported spending 13.7 hours per week on administrative work, the eighth lowest of any specialty. 17. Orthopedic surgeons reported having about 18 percent of their claims denied. 18. Among specialists in Medscape's survey, 22 percent of orthopedic surgeons had a mortgage of over $500,000. 19. Twenty-eight percent of orthopedic surgeons are still paying medical school debt. 20. If given the opportunity, 97 percent of orthopedic surgeons would choose orthope- dics as their specialty again. n 6 Texas orthopedic practices to merge into 150-plus physician group By Alan Condon Six orthopedic groups in Texas merged to launch OrthoLoneStar in January. The groups are: • W.B. Carrell Clinic in Dallas • Texas Orthopaedic Associates in Dallas • Fondren Orthopedic Group in Houston • Advanced Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine in Houston • Texas Orthopedics, Sports and Rehabilitation Associates in Austin • Azalea Orthopedics in Tyler The combined entity will have more than 150 physicians, over 40 locations and 1,000 employees, according to a Nov. 16 news release. Bryan Williamson, MD, serves as medical director of OrthoLoneStar, which is 100 percent physician-owned. The group's board of directors comprises fellowship-trained orthopedic sur- geons representing the founding divisions. n

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