MGMA: Specialty, PCP compensation grows slowly in 2007

Anne Zieger — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:17:11 -0400

According to a new study, it appears that while some specialists did well in 2007, most physician pay increases weren't anything to write home about. According to data from the Medical Group Management Association, inflation-adjusted specialty pay grew 0.31 percent, to a median of $332,450. Meanwhile, inflation-adjusted primary care pay rose 3.35 percent, to a median of $182,322.

Despite relatively pallid increases in specialist pay overall, there were a few winners: for example, noninvasive cardiologists' compensation grew 11.72 percent before inflation. Also, anesthesiologists saw a 6.43 percent inflation-adjusted pay increase and urologists saw a 5.5 percent gain, following a similar increase in 2006.

Meanwhile, primary care physicians essentially lost ground, if you consider that they generated an overall 7.59 percent increase in production in 2007. Looked at another way, they did more than 7 percent more work but got paid for less than 4 percent of it. This seems like a trend that can't continue; either smart providers will compensate physicians for the work they actually do, physicians will find a way to cut back, or the shortage will get so painful that pay jumps.

To learn more about the study:
- read this MGMA press release

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MGMA: Specialty, PCP compensation grows slowly in 2007