Becker's Hospital Review

98 CMO / CARE DELIVERY Physician pay increases, decreases in 11 specialties By Kelly Gooch M edian physician compensation in medical groups climbed 0.12 per- cent overall in 2020, down from the 3.79 percent increase seen the year prior, according to an Aug. 17 survey from the American Medical Group Association. Additionally, median work relative value unit production, a measure of provider productiv- ity, decreased by 10.17 percent in 2020, com- pared to a 0.56 percent increase in 2019, the survey found. e median physician com- pensation per work relative value unit pro- duction ratio increased to 10.82 percent in 2020, compared to the 2.14 percent increase observed in 2019. e survey is based on 2020 data from 398 medical groups, representing more than 190,000 providers from 168 physicians, ad- vanced practice clinicians and other special- ties. Compensation includes base salary, plus variable compensation and voluntary com- pensation reductions. It excludes retirement benefits, pension, SERP or tax-deferred prof- it-sharing plans. Here are the 2019-20 percentage changes for median physician compensation in 11 specialties spotlighted in the survey: 1. Family medicine: 1.27 percent increase 2. Internal medicine: 0.05 percent decrease 3. Pediatrics: 0.81 percent decrease 4. Cardiology (general): 2.63 percent de- crease 5. Gastroenterology: 0.074 percent decrease 6. Hematology and medical oncology: 1.39 percent decrease 7. Neurology: 1.25 percent increase 8. OB-GYN (general): 0.66 percent decrease 9. Emergency medicine: 0.58 percent increase 10. General surgery: 2.69 percent decrease 11. Orthopedic surgery: 0.89 percent de- crease n #PizzaIsNotWorking campaign calls for greater support for overworked pharmacists By Katie Adams O klahoma City pharmacist Bled Tanoe, PharmD, started the #PizzaIsNot- Working social media campaign to draw awareness to the reality that free pizza and other ad-hoc rewards are not a viable solution to the burnout sweeping the pharmacy industry. Dr. Tanoe told CBS affiliate KOTV-DT Aug. 30 that she and other pharmacists desperately need pharmacies' parent companies to make major changes, such as improving staffing levels, to support pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. "One of their biggest fears is I am going to make a mistake and it is going to cost someone's life. Someone is going to make a mistake and it will cost some- one's life or their family's life," she said. Pharmacists who have joined the movement say that the added responsibilities that came with the pandemic, such as administering COVID-19 vaccines and tests, have exacerbated the problem. Many pharmacists have shared stories of quitting their jobs or wanting to enter early retirement as a result of the stress. "There are people who have been in the profession for 20-40 years who love being pharmacists who say, 'I can't do this anymore.' And when people who have been in the industry that long say that they can't do it anymore you know it is very severe," Dr. Tanoe said. The " Pharmacy Staff for COVID-19 Support" Facebook group Dr. Tanoe started as part of the campaign has about 44,600 members as of Aug. 30. n White House outlines plan to strengthen pharmaceutical supply chain By Maia Anderson T he White House, along with the FDA and HHS, released a series of policy recommendations June 8 that the country will take to address vulnerabilities in the pharmaceutical supply chain. The recommendations, which have been accepted by President Joe Biden, are the result of an executive order the president signed in February to focus on securing the country's critical supply chains. Under the plan, HHS will make a com- mitment of roughly $60 million to devel- op technologies to increase domestic manufacturing of active pharmaceu- tical ingredients. Increased domestic production of active pharmaceutical ingredients will help reduce the coun- try's reliance on global supply chains for medications that are in shortage, partic- ularly during times of increased public health need, HHS said. The report's recommendations cen- ter on four pillars: 1. Boosting local production and foster- ing international cooperation. 2. Promoting research and develop- ment that establishes innovative man- ufacturing processes and production technologies to strengthen supply chain resilience. 3. Creating robust quality management to ensure consistent and reliable drug manufacturing and quality performance. 4. Leveraging data to improve supply chain resilience. "The COVID-19 pandemic revealed just how vulnerable the supply chain is in this country. Now is the right time to take action to keep the U.S. drug supply chain secure and resilient," said acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock, MD.n

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