Becker's ASC Review

45 GASTROENTEROLOGY Gastroenterologist annual pay drops to $406,000: 15 key stats about this specialty's compensation By Alan Condon G astroenterologist pay dropped to $406,000, the seventh highest-paid specialty, with plastic surgeons beating orthopedic surgeons to the top spot in 2021. Here are 15 insights on gastroenterologist compensation, incentive bonuses, patient volume and more, according to Medscape's Gastroenterologist Compensation Report and Physician Compensation Report. Editor's note: Medscape collected data from 17,903 respondents in more than 29 special- ties between Oct. 6, 2020, and Feb. 11, 2021. 1. e average annual pay for gastroenter- ologists is $406,000, down from $419,000 in 2020. Plastic surgeons topped the list with an average pay of $526,000. 2. In 2020, 96 percent of gastroenterologists reported a drop in income because of factors associated with the COVID-19 pandemic — job loss, reduction in hours, reduction in patient volume, etc. But 13 percent said that factors unrelated to COVID-19 led to a drop in income. 3. Gastroenterologists earn average incen- tive bonuses of $60,000, seventh behind orthopedic surgeons, who earn $116,000 on average, according to Medscape. Average payment among gastroenterologists who re- ceived a bonus was 15 percent of total salary, the same as last year. 4. Sixty-six percent of gastroenterologists who earn an incentive bonus achieve more than three quarters of their potential an- nual payment, up from 62 percent in 2020. On average, gastroenterologists receive 73 percent of their potential bonus. 5. Average gastroenterologist compensation over the last five years was: 2019-20: $419,000 2018-19: $417,000 2017-18: $408,000 2016-17: $391,000 2015-16: $380,000 6. Fiy percent of gastroenterologists who took financial hits due to the pandemic ex- pect their income to return to normal in this year; 34 percent said it will take two to three years; while 14 percent said they expect to never return to pre-pandemic income levels. 7. On average, employed gastroenterolo- gists ($405,000) earn about the same as their self-employed ($408,000) counter- parts. Among physicians overall, self- employed physicians earn on average $352,000 per year compared to $300,000 for employed physicians. 8. Gastroenterologists reported spending 15.2 hours per week on administrative work, up from 14.3 hours a week in 2020. 9. In terms of patient volume, gastroenterol- ogists are seeing an average decline of about 10 percent, from 76 to 69 patients per week. 10. Most gastroenterologists (80 percent) are continuing to see new and current Medicare and Medicaid patients. Sixteen percent were undecided, and 1 percent said they will not take new Medicare patients. 11. is year, 50 percent of gastroenterolo- gists plan to participate in the merit-based incentive payment system, and 12 percent aim to participate in advanced alternative payment models. 12. Fiy-five percent of gastroenterologists said they feel fairly compensated, up from 52 percent in last year's report. 13. Dealing with rules and regulations (22 percent), difficult patients (19 percent), working long hours (16 percent) and dif- ficulties getting fair reimbursement from payers (13 percent) were cited as the biggest challenges in the specialty. 14. Twenty-four percent of gastroenterolo- gists are women. 15. If given the opportunity, 93 percent of gastroenterologists said that they would choose their specialty again. n Postoperative gastroenterology trends to know: Hospital at home, telemedicine By Patsy Newitt T elemedicine and other technological advancements have changed the way gastroenterologists approach postoperative care. Richard Hodin, MD, serves as the chief of Boston-based Massachusetts General Hospital's Division of General and Gastrointestinal and the Division of Gastrointestinal and Oncologic Surgery. He spoke with Becker's ASC Review about the trends he's seeing in postoperative gastrointestinal treatment. Here's what he had to say: Dr. Richard Hodin: In the realm of postoperative surgical care, home hospital programs are being developed that allow for patients to return more quickly to their comfortable home environment by utilizing resources from the hospi- tal that can provide advanced care in the home setting. Some of this care can be provided through telemedicine approaches, while some require actual home visits. The result is better, more comfortable care for the patient while saving the high costs associated with hospital stays. We now understand that the traditional outcome measures we have used for years, such as standard surgical complications and survival curves, are not enough. The true patient experience is much more complex. Patient-reported outcome measures are being examined and providing a more nuanced and accurate assessment of the impact of surgical interventions on quality of life. n

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