Specialist pay hikes beat primary care again
Weak productivity gains a cause of concern
Anesthesiologists, urologists, and cardiologists came out the big winners in compensation gains last year, reports the Medical Group Management Association’s (MGMA) 2001 Physician Compensation and Production Survey.
This recent trend, where pay raises for selected specialists far outpace raises for primary care physicians, is a flip-flop from the pattern of the early and mid-1990s, notes David Gans, director of medical practice resources for the Englewood, CO-based MGMA.
On a cautionary note, recent increases in physician productivity have flattened out, which could drag down the annual payout for all doctors if the trend continues.
Anesthesiologists saw their average compensation increase 14.5% to $280,353, last year, compared to a 2.2% drop in that specialty’s pay in 1999. Meanwhile, the average pay for urologists increased an average of 12.3% to $301,772, mirroring that specialty’s 12% increase in the previous survey. Non-invasive cardiologists posted a 7.7% hike to $300,073 in average compensation, while invasive cardiologists saw their average income rise 7.6% to $365,894.
On the downside, specialties that saw their income drop were diagnostic radiologists, down 5.1%, and neurologists, down 1.7%, according to the MGMA.
Primary care physicians, however, only had a small gain in average compensation compared to last year, inching up 2.2% to $147,232. This repeats the pattern of the past several years. Along the same lines, pay for family physicians increased 2.6% to $145,121. Internist pay increased 2.5% to $149,104.
Between 1996 and 1999, overall gains in physician productivity outpaced increases in compensation. However, last year average physician income rose an average 2.2% compared to a 0.4% overall gain in productivity, says MGMA.
Because increasing productivity, cutting costs, and developing new sources of revenue are the only ways specialties not in increasingly high demand can significantly increase their compensation, experts will be paying close attention to productivity numbers in coming years.
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Compensation Gains |
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Compensation |
(Production) | ||||
| Primary Care | Specialist | ||||
| 1990-91 | 3.70% | (7.42%) | 7.80% | (8.87%) | |
| 1991-92 | 6.10% | (10.22%) | 3.63% | (10.02%) | |
| 1992-93 | 7.47% | (2.92%) | -1.28% | (-0.75%) | |
| 1993-94 | 2.70% | (1.34%) | 2.34% | (4.67%) | |
| 1994-95 | 4.46% | (0.57%) | 1.79% | (5.59%) | |
| 1995-96 | 1.42% | (3.36%) | 2.58% | (10.61%) | |
| 1996-97 | 0.42% | (2.56%) | -0.48% | (3.97%) | |
| 1997-98 | 2.54% | (4.67%) | 5.22% | (6.51%) | |
| 1998-99 | 3.39% | (11.33%) | 6.01% | (7.67%) | |
| 1999-00 | 2.27% | (0.40%) | 4.30% | (4.83%) | |
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Source: The Medical Group Management Association, Englewood, CO. |
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