Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/821337
82 CMO / CARE DELIVERY 5 Things to Know About Specialist, Primary Care Pay in 2016 By Emily Rappleye P hysician pay has increased for the seventh year in a row to an average annual compensation of $294,000 for full-time physicians in 2016, according to Med- scape's "2017 Physician Compensation Report," which has tracked pay data for seven years. Here are five things to know about the latest data on specialist and primary care physician pay. 1. PCPs still earn less than specialists, despite the in- dustry's greater emphasis on primary care. Specialists earned 45.6 percent more in 2016 — which equates to roughly $100,000 more, according to the report. After a year of growth in primary care pay in 2015 — when internist pay grew 12 percent over the year prior, pediatrician pay grew 7 percent and family practitioner pay grew 6 percent — primary care pay experienced little to no growth in 2016. In fact, pediatrician pay declined 1 percent. At an average annual compensation of $202,000, pediatricians were the lowest paid physicians. Comparatively, orthopedists were the highest paid, at $489,000. 2. Seven specialties experienced significant growth in compensation. Medscape flagged seven specialties with double-digit growth in compensation between 2015 and 2016. Those specialties included: • Plastic surgery (24 percent growth) • Allergy and immunology (15 percent) • Otolaryngology (13 percent) • Ophthalmology (12 percent) • Pulmonology (11 percent) • Orthopedics (10 percent) • Pathology (10 percent) 3. Two specialties experienced little to no growth, due in part to CMS changes in reimbursement. Cardiologists and oncologists did not experience pay growth in 2016, according to the report. Medscape attributed this to reduc- tions in Medicare reimbursement for stent placement and cancer drugs. 4. Self-employed physicians still bring home the big- gest paychecks, but employers are upping the ante for PCPs. Self-employed physicians generally earn about 28 percent more than employed physicians, but the gap is much smaller among PCPs. Self-employed PCPs earned average compensation of $223,000 in 2016, compared to employed physicians' $214,000. 5. Pay is greater where demand is greater. This means physicians are earning most in rural areas. Pay is highest in North Dakota, where the average physician earned $361,000 in 2016. It is lowest in Washington, D.C., where the average physician earned $235,000 in 2016. The high- est paid states for physicians after North Dakota include Alaska, South Dakota and Nebraska. Medscape surveyed more than 19,200 physicians across 26 specialties. Compensation for employed physicians includes salary, bonus and profit-sharing contributions. For indepen- dent physicians, compensation includes earnings after taxes and deductible business expenses, but before income tax. n Surprise State Inspection Finds Linen Storage Issue at UPMC Shadyside By Heather Punke U PMC Shadyside in Pittsburgh did not store clean and soiled linen according to proper standards, ac- cording to the findings of an unannounced inspec- tion conducted by the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The inspection occurred Feb. 17 and the documents were released online in April. The inspection comes as UPMC and Paris Cleaners, its linen service provider, are involved in multiple lawsuits brought by families affected by a mold outbreak that may have been caused by mold on linens. The outbreak contributed to the deaths of at least five patients at UPMC hospitals and caused the system to temporarily shut down its transplant program in 2015. Per the February state inspection report, linen should be sort- ed and stored in negative pressure rooms with special air ex- changes, but investigators "revealed that neither the clean or soiled linens were being stored according to standards." UPMC Shadyside issued a plan of correction to the state health department and plans to renovate storage areas for soiled and clean linens — the hospital expects construction to be completed by Sept. 1. In the interim, UPMC is edu- cating staff and taking other actions to bring linen storage into compliance. "Patient safety is our top priority and we always strive to be in compliance with state and federal regulations," a state- ment from UPMC emailed to Becker's reads. "We welcome health officials into our facilities and appreciate their guid- ance. When issues are found, we move quickly to make corrections, as we have in this case." Brendan Lupetin, an attorney who represents some of the families affected by the outbreak, told Trib Live he is "shocked and saddened to learn of these ongoing defi- ciencies with the laundry and linens at UPMC … This mess needs to be cleaned up for the patients' sake." n