2006 Salary Survey Results
Surveyed pharmacists report earning more than $100,000 per year
Of 11 pharmacists who responded to the 2006 Drug Formulary Review salary survey, six are earning between $100,000 and $129,999 (see chart), while three earn $130,000 or more and the salary for the remaining two is less than $59,999. Five of the respondents reported a salary increase of 4-6% in the past year, while four had a salary increase between 1% and 3%, and two reported increases between 11% and 15% (see chart).
The salary level may be associated with the fact that most of the respondents are in supervisory positions (see chart). Six of the respondents hold the position of Director of Pharmacy with their employers, while two are Clinical Pharmacist/ Coordinator and one is an Assistant Director of Pharmacy. Nearly half of the respondents (five) hold a PharmD degree, while two have an MS, one a BSN, and three have other degrees. Six of the respondents were females, and five were males.
Again, reflecting tenure in the profession and supervisory responsibilities, the age distribution is skewed to the upper end, with three respondents between the ages of 61 and 65 (see chart), two between ages 56 and 60, and two between ages 51 and 55. The remaining four respondents were younger than 50 years old.
Just over half of the respondents (six) practice in urban facilities, while three were in a rural area and two in a medium-sized city. Seven respondents work in hospitals, with two in academia, one in a clinic and one in private practice. Eight respondents are in nonprofit facilities, and one each work in the federal government, local government, and for-profit ownership. Although the survey is hurt by the small number of respondents, there was a reasonable geographic distribution.
For those who work in a hospital, one is in a facility with fewer than 100 beds, three in hospitals with 101-200 beds, one in a facility with 201-300 beds, one in a hospital with 501-600 beds, one in a hospital with 601-800 beds, and three in hospitals with 801-1,000 beds.
Consistent with the reported salary levels and job titles, six of the respondents (54.55%) reported working in pharmacy for more than 25 years. One respondent was in the profession 22-24 years, one 13-15 years, one 7-9 years, and two 4-6 years. Likewise, six reported working in health care for more than 25 years, and one 22-24 years, one 13-15 years, one between 10-12 years, and two between 4-6 years.
All 11 respondents said the RPh certification best represents their position.
A majority of the respondents said they work full-time schedules, with five reporting they work 41-45 hours a week (see chart), one 46-50 hours, three 51-55 hours, one 56-60 hours, and one working less than full-time, 20-30 hours.
Response limits conclusions
Clearly, it's difficult to draw any valid conclusions or make any analysis with so few responses compared to the number of potential respondents. And the experts we consulted for their insights made just that point.
"We need more participants," says Carsten Evans, PhD, associate professor of pharmacy administration at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, FL. He suggested Drug Formulary Review revisit the goal for conducting an annual salary survey and determine if subscribers really want this information. "If your audience wants this information," he concludes, "then let them provide it and give you direction on what type(s) of information they want."
Likewise, Thomas Burnakis, PharmD, pharmacy clinical coordinator at Baptist Medical Center in Jacksonville, FL, says while the survey categories seem appropriate, "the low response rate makes things of less value. One wonders if only the high end responded in an effort to show off or because they were happy enough to tell you, or if it was the low end who were disgruntled and wanted everyone to know how bad it is."
He suggests that sending the survey out with the print copies of the newsletter could be a problem because many hospital and health system pharmacists are so busy that they may not open the newsletter for quite some time after it arrives. And another issue Burnakis cited as a possible cause for the low response rate is the time it takes to complete a survey and the number of surveys that come in from various sources.
"I get things all of the time that I am asked to do," he says. "Most of them I do not do because of all the things I have to do because of work. Pharmacists are really getting overloaded with clinical and administrative things. Most of the new regulations, 797, compounding regs, [and] JCAHO fall on Pharmacy without an increase in pay or manpower . . . .Finally, some people may think that this is fairly confidential and that they could be identified."
Burnakis suggests that it might be better to send surveys in individual mailings, rather than inserted in the newsletter or even better yet in an e-mail and accept on-line responses. He also suggested we consider making final survey data available in a database format that a hospital or health system pharmacy director could use when making an appeal for a salary increase or adjustment in the pay range for pharmacists at a particular facility.
Do any of these suggestions resonate with you? The editorial team for Drug Formulary Review would welcome your comments and recommendations for future survey efforts. E-mail: [email protected].
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