Nearly 80% of physicians saw a modest increase in compensation in 2011, with a 4% average increase for primary care and 2.8% for specialists, according to findings from the American Medical Groups Association’s 2012 Medical Group Compensation and Financial Survey. Hospitalists saw a 3.1% raise.
The most significant pay increases were for hematology & medical oncology (7.1%), hypertension and nephrology (6.9%), urgent care (5.2%) and family medicine (5.1%). Despite the increases, provider organizations across the country saw operating revenues run in the red, with a national average margin of -$1,235 per physician. Donald Fisher, Ph.D, president and CEO of AMGA, said the findings provide further evidence to support the campaign to reform physician reimbursement.
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In 2011, most physicians (almost 80%) saw at least a modest increase in pay.
"AMGA continues to advocate for changes in the Medicare reimbursement system, including a shift from volume-based to value-base payment models," he said in a statement.
Additional findings showed a slight decrease in relative value units (RVUs, –.5% on average). However, that decrease is normal, according to Brad Vaudrey, a principal with Sullivan, Cotter, and Assoc., an independent consulting firm specializing in physician compensation.
"It is fairly typical to see only small changes annually to the RVU numbers so an overall -.5% is not alarming, it just indicates overall physicians continue to maintain the work effort level," Mr. Vaudrey said in an interview. "We are watching so see if the implementation of [electronic medical records], medical home, push for quality, and other factors that may change the role of the [physician] will have an impact on the RVU output." Hospitalists were among the group who had a slight increase of 2.8% in RVUs.
The survey was conducted by Sullivan, Cotter. Data were collected from 225 medical groups, representing 55,800 physicians. Of the 178 medical groups responding to a survey question about type of ownership, 68 (38%) said they were physician owned. An additional 53% of respondents reported being with a health system or a hospital, as compared with 51% in 2010.