Physician pay fairly flat in 2015, but trends continue to emerge

Thu Sep 24 00:23:45 PDT 2015

September 16, 2015

Physician pay fairly flat in 2015, but trends continue to emerge

<http://www.fiercepracticemanagement.com/story/physician-pay-fairly-flat-201
5-trends-continue-emerge/2015-09-16?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal>
FiercePracticeManagement

By Debra Beaulieu-Volk

Overall, physicians' pay increased a mere 1.8 percent over the past year,
according to the 2015 "Physician Compensation and Productivity Survey" from
Minneapolis-based Sullivan, Cotter and Associates.

Primary care physicians are continuing to close the gap with their
specialist peers, according to the company, with 3.4 percent median increase
in total cash compensation between 2014 and 2015, compared to medical and
surgical specialists, who saw 2.5 percent and 2.3 percent increases,
respectively.

This finding may suggest that trends toward value-based and coordinated care
are making primary care physicians more valuable, noted an article from
Becker's Hospital Review. Indeed, 45 percent of the 560 organizations
surveyed reported the use of quality measures in their physician
compensation models--a 13 percent increase in prevalence over the past two
years. 

"As reimbursement changes, organizational goals and priorities continue to
shift. More physician pay related to quality metrics is at risk. We're
currently seeing a steady increase in pay-for-performance compensation
models as the focus on value-based incentives continues," Kim Mobley,
managing principal at SullivanCotter, said in an announcement.

Nonetheless, quality incentive payments represented just 6 percent of
physicians' total cash compensation, the survey found, backing up previous
research indicating that incentive payments make up only a small portion of
the large mosaic of how doctors are paid.

Finally, the survey of 115,000 physicians and advanced practice clinicians
revealed that physicians are continuing to opt for hospital and large
medical group employment over independent practice. And the opportunities
are plentiful, with nearly 75 percent of organizations reporting they
increased their employed physician workforce during the previous 12 months
and 68 percent planning to do so throughout the next year.

Jeff Wells
Deputy Editor, CAL/AAEM News Service

Brian Potts MD, MBA
Managing Editor, CAL/AAEM News Service

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