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Leslie Kane, MA | April 29, 2019
| Contributor Information
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Medscape Plastic Surgeon Compensation Report 2019
Leslie Kane, MA | April 29, 2019 | Contributor Information
The Medscape Physician Compensation Report is the most comprehensive and widely used physician salary survey in the United States. In this year's report, almost 20,000 physicians in more than 30 specialties responded to Medscape's salary survey. Plastic surgeons who responded provided salary information, hours worked, time spent seeing patients, and what they find most rewarding and challenging about their jobs. (Note: Label values on charts are rounded, but rankings and calculations are based on raw data to avoid rounding errors.)
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Medscape Plastic Surgeon Compensation Report 2019
Leslie Kane, MA | April 29, 2019 | Contributor Information
Survey respondents were asked to provide their compensation for patient care. For employed physicians, that includes salary, bonus, and profit-sharing contributions. For partners, it includes earnings after taxes and deductible business expenses before income taxes. Only full-time salaries are reported.
Plastic surgeon income is down from last year's average income of $501,000. However, plastic surgeons are still among the top earners of all physician specialties.
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Medscape Plastic Surgeon Compensation Report 2019
Leslie Kane, MA | April 29, 2019 | Contributor Information
Paperwork and administration is a growing burden for physicians in all specialties. Of physicians overall, 38% spent 10-19 hours per week on paperwork and administrative tasks, and 36% spent 20 hours or more. Plastic surgeons appear to have somewhat fewer of those burdens than other physicians; 69% were saddled with 10 or more hours per week of paperwork and administrative chores.
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Medscape Plastic Surgeon Compensation Report 2019
Leslie Kane, MA | April 29, 2019 | Contributor Information
Nearly three fourths of plastic surgeons' benefit packages have stayed the same. More plastic surgeons' benefits have gotten worse than have improved.
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Medscape Plastic Surgeon Compensation Report 2019
Leslie Kane, MA | April 29, 2019 | Contributor Information
In general, larger medical practices benefit from economies of scale, which lead to a lower overhead percentage.
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Medscape Plastic Surgeon Compensation Report 2019
Leslie Kane, MA | April 29, 2019 | Contributor Information
Plastic surgery practices use PAs and NPs less than do physicians overall, where 36% of practices use PAs and 50% of practices use NPs. The numbers of practicing PAs and NPs are projected to grow by 4.3% and 6.8%, respectively, from 2016 to 2030, while the number of physicians is projected to grow 1.1% in that timeframe.[1] (Note: Physicians were able to choose more than one response.)
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Medscape Plastic Surgeon Compensation Report 2019
Leslie Kane, MA | April 29, 2019 | Contributor Information
Our survey shows that 92% of plastic surgeons were either very satisfied or satisfied with their own job performance. "Doctors take great pride in what they do, even under difficult circumstances, and I would imagine that we all feel we do the best we can in spite of the challenges," says Carol Bernstein, MD, psychiatrist at NYU Langone Medical Center.
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Medscape Plastic Surgeon Compensation Report 2019
Leslie Kane, MA | April 29, 2019 | Contributor Information
The percentage of plastic surgeons in fee-for-service arrangements (56%) is about the same as that of last year (53%). The percentage in cash-only practices (55%) increased compared with last year (47%).
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Medscape Plastic Surgeon Compensation Report 2019
Leslie Kane, MA | April 29, 2019 | Contributor Information
Although Medicare reimbursement is lower than that of many private insurers, the majority of plastic surgeons are not planning to cut back on these patients. In 2016, over 56 million people were enrolled in the Medicare program—most because of their age, while the others were Medicare beneficiaries due to various disabilities.[2]
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Medscape Plastic Surgeon Compensation Report 2019
Leslie Kane, MA | April 29, 2019 | Contributor Information
Among all specialists, 37% expect to participate in MIPS (Merit-based Incentive Payment System) and 9% plan to participate in APMs (alternative payment models). Somewhat more primary care physicians expect to participate in MIPS (42%) and APMs (12%).
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Medscape Plastic Surgeon Compensation Report 2019
Leslie Kane, MA | April 29, 2019 | Contributor Information
Plastic surgeons' attitudes toward their compensation have improved since our 2014 report. At that time, 37% of plastic surgeons said that they were satisfied with their compensation.
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Medscape Plastic Surgeon Compensation Report 2019
Leslie Kane, MA | April 29, 2019 | Contributor Information
Plastic surgeons found problems getting fair reimbursement and dealing with difficult patients more challenging than did physicians overall (13% and 14%, respectively). For physicians overall (26%), having so many rules and regulations is the most challenging part of their jobs.
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Medscape Plastic Surgeon Compensation Report 2019
Leslie Kane, MA | April 29, 2019 | Contributor Information
Physicians overall (29%) found gratitude from and relationships with patients to be the most rewarding part of their jobs. An even greater percentage of plastic surgeons cited that as the most rewarding factor.
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Medscape Plastic Surgeon Compensation Report 2019
Leslie Kane, MA | April 29, 2019 | Contributor Information
The majority of plastic surgeons—and 77% of all physicians—would choose to go into medicine again as a career, if they had to make the choice.
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Medscape Plastic Surgeon Compensation Report 2019
Leslie Kane, MA | April 29, 2019 | Contributor Information
Of the physicians who said they would choose medicine again, 79% said they would choose the same specialty. A high percentage of plastic surgeons noted that they would remain in their chosen specialty.
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Medscape Plastic Surgeon Compensation Report 2019
Leslie Kane, MA | April 29, 2019 | Contributor Information
Among plastic surgeons, solo practices are the most common worksite. According to American Medical Association data,[3] the single-specialty group is the most common practice type among all physicians, with 42.8% of physicians working in these settings in 2016. The multispecialty group is the second most popular form of practice setting, comprising 24.6% of physicians.
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Medscape Plastic Surgeon Compensation Report 2019
Leslie Kane, MA | April 29, 2019 | Contributor Information
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Medscape Plastic Surgeon Compensation Report 2019
Leslie Kane, MA | April 29, 2019 | Contributor Information
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Medscape Plastic Surgeon Compensation Report 2019
Leslie Kane, MA | April 29, 2019 | Contributor Information
Almost 20,000 physicians in over 30 specialties told us how much they earn, whether they are satisfied with their jobs, and whether their income has gone up or down.Medscape Features Slideshows, April 2019
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Comments on Medscape are moderated and should be professional in tone and on topic. You must declare any conflicts of interest related to your comments and responses. Please see our Commenting Guide for further information. We reserve the right to remove posts at our sole discretion.
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Leslie Kane, MA
Senior Director
Medscape Business of Medicine
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References
Auerbach DI, Staiger DO, Buerhaus PI. [Table: Historical and Projected Numbers of Physicians, Nurse Practitioners, and Physician Assistants] Growing ranks of advanced practice clinicians – implications for the physician workforce. NEJM Catalyst. August 2018. Source
Murphy B. For first time, physician practice owners are not the majority. May 31, 2017. American Medical Association. Source
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