Few Doctors Consider Themselves Rich, Survey Says

Thu May 3 22:28:30 PDT 2012

Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: CAL/AAEM:
California Chapter of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine

April 25, 2012

Few Doctors Consider Themselves Rich, Survey Says 

Kaiser Health News
<http://capsules.kaiserhealthnews.org/index.php/2012/04/few-doctors-consider
-themselves-rich-survey-says/> 

Few doctors think of themselves as rich, and only about half think they're
fairly compensated, according to survey results released this week by
Medscape.

The annual survey isn't scientific - and perhaps, not surprising, either -
but it offers insights into what nearly 25,000 physicians earn, and how they
view that number. In 2011, compensation self-reported by surveyed physicians
ranged from an average of $156,000 for pediatricians to $315,000 for
radiologists and orthopedic surgeons.

The survey showed that 51 percent of all physicians - and 46 percent of
primary care physicians - think they're compensated fairly.

Only about 11 percent of doctors consider themselves rich, mostly because of
their debts and expenses, according to Medscape.

The survey also offers a glimpse at how physicians view coming changes to
the health care system, such as efforts to improve quality or offer care
through accountable care organizations, which are integrated systems
included in the federal health law.

More than half said they expect their incomes to decline because of ACOs
(although very few were participating in such a system), and only 25 percent
said quality measures and treatment guidelines will improve patient care.

Overall, 54 percent of physicians said they would choose medicine as a
career again. Only 41 percent said they would choose the same specialty and
23 percent would choose the same practice setting.

Others groups that survey physicians about their income include the Medical
Group Management Association and Merritt Hawkins. A 2011 MGMA report, for
instance, which looked at data from 2010, found the median compensation for
radiologists was $471,253 and $192,148 for physicians in
pediatric/adolescent medicine.

Medscape surveyed 24,216 physicians across 25 specialty areas from Feb.
1-17, 2012 using a third-party online survey collection website.

Bryan Sloane
Deputy Editor, CAL/AAEM News Service

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

Contact us at: calaaem.news.service1 at gmail.com

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