I just got back from the annual meeting of the Society of Hospital Medicine in San Diego. The bi-annual hospitalist salary
survey for 2007-2008 is out (this link is not related to this survey here but rather a more encompassing one). Over 400 hospitalist groups responded with information about their hospitalist salaries, a response rate of close to 25%. There are some statistical limitations to this survey and it is self reported and not verified by the society. But with that said, here are the guts of what the hospitalist salary is doing:
survey for 2007-2008 is out (this link is not related to this survey here but rather a more encompassing one). Over 400 hospitalist groups responded with information about their hospitalist salaries, a response rate of close to 25%. There are some statistical limitations to this survey and it is self reported and not verified by the society. But with that said, here are the guts of what the hospitalist salary is doing:- Average hours worked a year was 2080 (that's a 40 hours a week)
- 70% had a mix of salary and bonus structure.
- 2% of encounters were procedural in nature.
- 50% do shifts only, 35 % do call only, the rest is a hybrid.
- Over 90% of hospitalist groups receive financial support
- The average support per hospitalist was almost $100,000
- Just over 2400 encounters average per year per hospitalist.
- Average total compensation increased 13% to $193,000 per year.
- There is a strong correlation between production incentives and production and hospitalist compensation (do more, make more)
Now you know why hospitalist medicine is expected to grow to sixty thousand physicians nation wide. The hospitalist salary has left the failed system instituted by the Medicare National Bank. Hospitalist opportunities continue to grow and with it, the hospitalist salary is coming with it.
Here's an update salary survey for late 2009
Here's an update salary survey for late 2009
For more information on hospitalist salary, visit
- Hospitalist compensation salary survey 2010 (SHM/MGMA) based on 2009 data
- Hospitalist subsidy and support payments update for 2011, based on 2010 data.
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dang i could do a lot if my hospital supported me 100k per physician in the outpatient arena.
ReplyDeletei wonder how long till they just hire physician extenders to replace the hospitalists at 70k per? :)
actually, the physician extenders are about 2/3 as productive, and make about 90K a year. So there ain't that much savings involved for what you are getting.
ReplyDeleteSo you ask yourself. If physician compensation is only 30k-40k more for work done, is it worth skimping. What about the really hard cases that take medical doctor level care. That isn't going to happen with a PA or an NP. There ain't any way around that.
i'm sorry, it sounded like you said physician compensation was 193k and midlevel was 90k. that seems like a pretty big difference to me? the hard cases will be handled by specialists, just like outpatient work managed by midlevels.
ReplyDeleteanon 1218. I did say that, but both our math is wrong. 90K a year at 2/3 productivity is equivalent to $135K a year for an extender that is as productive as a physician, in terms of volume of encounters. I did mispeak, The difference would be closer to 50-60K cheaper. If you really believe that a hospital should be a place for specialists to proceduralize a patient while a lowly NP or PA sits idly buy and oogles with amazement, I would want those hospitals to be transparent, and then I would tell all my friends and family to run from them as fast as they can. The king of the ship, the primary care doc, is the most important anchor for any hospitalized patient with multiple medical problems. I shiver to think of a NP or a PA taking care of a complicated 85 year old with multiple medical problems, and simply handing out the consults. You want expensive and dangerous medicine, your model of excellence is that example. I would want nothing to do with it. You seem to believe that a NP or a PA could do my job for cheaper. It's purely laughable. That's like having the PA do a laminectomy unsupervised. Or a NP do a heart cath unsupervised. Technical skills that can be learned by repetition. Right? Take a 6 month class and then go out on your own. Right?
ReplyDeleteIf I got admitted to a hospital that had a NP or a PA as the head of the ship, I would leave AMA and find a hospital with physicians. Why? Because I am exposed to their knowledge base, since I train them as they come through our rotation. I shutter to think of them out on their own with no supervisor. Keep on believing in your utopia. And hope you don't get admitted to your perfect hospital.
just fyi, it's not that i want it, it's that the writing is on the wall.
ReplyDeleteliving the dream that is medicine 2008
BTW. More and more of our subspecialists are removing themselves from the call list at hospitals and creating a boutique practice environment preferring to capitalize on the high reimbursement for procedures at outpatient facilities. Also, 'difficult' patients don't present to the ED with 'difficult' stamped on their foreheads. HELLO people, it takes an MD/DO to recognize these 'find it or get sued' patients, or to put it bluntly, to 'save your mother-in-laws' life (assuming that is a priority!). The hospital billboard that reads: "We save lives with MDs", reads better than the one reading," We save money with RN's". Trust me, when a life is lost to poor care, and substituting FNP's/PA's for MD's is part of the failure equation, the resulting litigation will be severe, and rightfully so.
ReplyDeletephysician extenders are not unsupervised in the hospital setting. There should be a physician available at all times for collaboration. The PE's take the lesser acutity pts. They play a supportive role to the busy hospitalist. They are not trying to replace anybody, and they are not doctors.
ReplyDelete