Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/821337
81 FINANCE CMO / CARE DELIVERY Significant Pay Gaps Persist Among Minority, Female Physicians By Emily Rappleye A verage physician compensation in 2016 was $294,000 — but average pay for female physicians and all minority physicians fall below that benchmark, ac- cording to Medscape's "2017 Physician Compensation Report." Here are six things to know about disparities in physician pay, based on data from the Medscape report. 1. e largest disparity in pay is between male and female physicians. However, age- based data indicates this issue is improving among younger physicians. Medscape found male physicians ages 55 to 69 made 27 percent more than female physicians in their age group. Among physicians under age 34, the gender pay gap was 18 percent in 2016. 2. Gender pay gaps are wider in specialties. Female primary care physicians earned 16 percent less than their male counterparts in 2016 ($197,000 versus $229,000). is gap is almost twice as large among specialty physicians. Female specialists earned 31 percent less than their male counterparts in 2016, according to the report. Average compensation for female specialists totaled $251,000, compared to male specialists' $345,000. 3. While the gap cannot be fully explained, there are a few differences in practice between male and female physicians, according to the report. For example, female physicians are more likely to be employed, and employed physicians tend to earn less than independent physicians. Female physicians are also twice as likely as their male counterparts to work part time (22 percent versus 11 percent). While Medscape only compares full-time compensation data, more part-time work could potentially slow pay increases. Lastly, a larger portion of female physicians choose lower paying specialties. For example, 53 percent of pediatricians — the lowest compensated specialty in 2016 — were female. However, these differences in practice cannot fully explain the gap in pay, according to the report. 4. e biggest disparity in pay in terms of race and ethnicity was between white physicians and black physicians. Black physicians earn 15 percent less than their white colleagues. In 2016, that meant the average black physician earned $262,000, compared to the average white physician's $303,000. Aer black physicians, the mi- nority groups that earned the least were Hispanic and Latino physicians, with aver- age compensation of $271,000 in 2016. Asian physicians earned the second most, at $283,000. All minority group averages fell below the overall average physician pay of $294,000 in 2016. 5. Minority groups are aware of this gap. Fewer minority respondents felt they were fairly compensated. Only 49 percent of Hispanic/Latino physicians felt they were fairly compensated, 50 percent of black physicians felt fairly compensated and 51 percent of Asian physicians felt fairly compensated. Comparatively, 57 percent of white physicians felt fairly compensated. 6. Minority physicians were more likely to serve in primary care specialties than white physicians. For example, 80 percent of white physicians identified as specialists, compared to 75 percent of Asian physicians, 72 percent of Hispanic/Latino physicians and 70 percent of black physicians. n Maryland Hospital NICU Reopens 4 Months After Investigation into Bacteria Outbreak By Heather Punke T he neonatal intensive care unit at Prince George's Hospital Center in Cheverly, Md., reopened April 3, four months after federal investigators started looking into how a potentially deadly bacteria entered the unit. Pseudomonas was first discovered in the NICU in August, and nine babies — three of whom tested positive for the bacteria — were transferred to another hospital. Prince George's shut down the NICU that month, pinpointed the bacteria's source, and reopened the unit after tests showed the water supply to be free of bacteria. However, two babies tested positive for Pseudomonas again in November, according to NBC 4 Washington. The NICU was again shut down and six ba- bies were transferred, according to The Washington Post. After the November discovery, CDC and state investigators searched for the source of the bacteria. However, they found no source other than the plumbing. Prince George's and its parent system, Dimensions Healthcare Systems, have since invested more than half a million dollars into a water treatment system and implemented new protocols for hand-washing and water testing, accord- ing to The Washington Post. "Currently, we have had no bacteria in the water system," Sherry Perkins, COO of Dimensions Healthcare Systems, told the Post. "I feel confident that the water treatment plan will make us among the safest NICUs in the country." Pseudomonas is found widely in the en- vironment, and serious infections usually occur only in people in the hospital or who have weakened immune systems. According to the CDC, in hospitals, the bacteria usually spread on healthcare workers' hands or by equipment that isn't properly cleaned. n The average black physician earned $262,000 compared to the average white physician's $303,000.