Pay and Production Rise
Physician compensation and productivity are rising despite healthcare staffing woes
By Bruce Japsen
PHYSICIANS ARE working harder for more pay, but their compensation still isn’t keeping up with inflation and rising practice costs amid an influx of patients following the historic COVID-19 pandemic.
That’s the story of this year’s compensation reports as economic trends that include an ongoing health staffing crunch in a tight labor market continue triggering higher costs. The staffing shortage is coupled with reimbursement issues such as Medicare payment cuts and privatized Medicare Advantage plans that now insure one in two seniors eligible for such coverage.
“Despite being faced with escalating overhead, declining physician reimbursement, and a challenging labor market, medical groups pushed themselves to elevated levels of productivity in 2023, ensuring they could meet the increased demand for care in their communities,” said Halee Fischer-Wright, MD, president and chief executive officer of the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA).
The 2024 MGMA DataDrive Provider Compensation and Productivity report shows median primary care physician compensation rose 4.4% to $312,427 in 2023, up from $299,157 in 2022. That compensation growth was about the same as surgical specialist compensation that rose 4.42% to $554,108 from $530,649 in 2023. Nonsurgical specialist compensation rose only 1.81% to $432,983 last year, up from $425,265 in 2022.
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