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Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
Anesthesiologists who responded to this year's Medscape compensation survey disclosed their compensation, number of hours they work weekly, their major rewards and challenges, and more. (Note: Chart values have been rounded and may differ from the sums cited in the captions.)
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
Survey respondents were asked to provide their annual compensation for patient care. For employed physicians, this includes salary, bonus, and profit-sharing contributions. For partners, it includes earnings after taxes and deductible business expenses before income tax. Anesthesiologists were toward the top this year at $364,000. Orthopedists were the highest earners this year at $489,000, and pediatricians the lowest at $202,000.
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
Compensation for cardiologists and oncologists has not changed since the 2016 survey. Pediatricians were the only specialists who reported a decrease this year, of 1%. All other survey respondents reported an increase, with plastic surgeons' and allergists' gains the largest at 24% and 16%, respectively. Anesthesiologists, however, only experienced an increase of 1%.
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
Average compensation for US-trained anesthesiologists ($368,000) exceeds that of their foreign-trained peers ($348,000) by only 6%. The average among all US-trained physicians surveyed is $301,000, second highest following those trained in Canada ($328,000).
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
Among most anesthesiologists, there is a wide gap in gender participation, which differs by race. Among black/African Americans, 51% are women and 49% are men. Among other groups, however, men outnumber women by a wide margin, with 80% of Hispanic or Latino, 79% of white/Caucasian, and 73% of Asian anesthesiologists being men.
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
This year, the highest average compensation was reported by anesthesiologists in the North Central ($405,000), South Central ($383,000), and Southeast ($378,000) regions, while the lowest was found in the Northeast ($334,000), West ($335,000), and Northwest ($348,000).
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
Physicians who are employed earn less than those who are self-employed, trading in a higher salary for less time spent dealing with administrative and business issues. Self-employed anesthesiologists earn 21% more than their employed peers ($408,000 vs $338,000).
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
This year, as in all previous years' reports, full-time male anesthesiologists reported higher earnings than their female counterparts. Men earned $382,000, 24% more than women, who earned $308,000.
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
More than two thirds of anesthesiologists this year say they get liability coverage (69%) and health insurance (68%). Only about half get dental coverage (52%) and retirement plans (50%). Fifteen percent reported that they receive no benefits.
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
This year, among all physicians, nearly one quarter (22%) of women and 10% of men reported that they work part-time (less than 40 hours per week). Among anesthesiologists, however, just 7% of men and 13% of women surveyed work part-time.
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
Fifty-seven percent of anesthesiologists surveyed believe that they are fairly compensated, ranking them above the middle among all physicians. At the bottom of the list, just 41% of nephrologists reported that they feel their compensation is fair, followed in dissatisfaction by endocrinologists (44%). Emergency medicine physicians, at 68%, were most likely to report that they do feel fairly compensated.
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
This year, in addition to asking respondents if they are satisfied with their compensation, the Medscape survey asked those who were not satisfied how large an increase they feel they deserve. Forty-four percent of anesthesiologists believe they deserve to be earning between 11% and 25% more, while 12% believe their current income should be increased by over 75%.
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
This year, anesthesiologists' participation in accountable care organizations (ACOs) increased to 39% from 30% in 2016, while 4% had concierge and 5% had cash-only practices. More than one quarter (28%) of anesthesiologist respondents reported that none of the payment models listed apply to them.
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), also known as the permanent "Doc Fix," went into effect on January 1, 2017. This year's Medscape survey asked anesthesiologists if they expect to participate, and at 53%, they were above the middle among the most likely to answer affirmatively.
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
In this year's survey, when anesthesiologists were asked whether they would drop insurers that pay poorly, 14% said they would and about half (47%) said they would not. (The question was not applicable to 38% of anesthesiologist respondents, most likely because they are employed by hospitals or other organizations.)
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
Less than one third (31%) of anesthesiologists reported that they have seen an influx of new patients over the past year as a result of the Affordable Care Act, compared with 26% in 2016.
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
Most anesthesiologists (72%) surveyed said they will continue to take new and treat current Medicare and Medicaid patients. Only 3% indicated that they intend to stop taking new patients, and 2% will drop current patients who are recipients. Six percent said they have not yet decided.
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
This year has seen a notable increase in the percentage of all Medscape survey respondents who say they are participating in healthcare exchanges, up to 37% from 19% in 2016. Among anesthesiologists, a third said they plan to participate in the exchanges, up from just 19% last year, while 20% do not plan to participate, down from 27%.
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
Among anesthesiologists, 39% reported no change in income due to health insurance exchanges, 4% said their income had increased, and 23% said that it had decreased. About a third (34%) of anesthesiologist respondents did not participate in an exchange.
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
This year, 38% of all anesthesiologists surveyed said they either regularly or occasionally discuss the cost of treatment with patients. Thirty-five percent never discuss treatments, and for 27% this question was not applicable.
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
When we asked anesthesiologists whether they charge patients for appointments missed without notice, 38% of solo practitioners said they do, compared with 26% of respondents in single-specialty group practices and 45% of those in multispecialty groups.
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
Less than two thirds (61%) of anesthesiologists surveyed spend more than 45 hours each week with patients—about the same as last year (63%)—while 38% put in 45 hours per week or less.
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
About half of anesthesiologists who responded this year (46%) spend between 13 and 24 minutes with each patient. Eighteen percent spend 25 minutes or more, and 23% spend 12 minutes or less. (Note: This slide applies to office-based physicians only.)
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
According to this year's Medscape Lifestyle Report, bureaucratic tasks remain the primary cause of burnout among physicians. More than half (56%) of all physicians surveyed spend 10 hours or more per week on paperwork and administration, up from 35% in the 2014 report. Far lower than the overall rate, only a third of the anesthesiologists polled devote 10 hours or more to such tasks each week.
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
Gender does not appear to play a major role in whether anesthesiologists seek promotion. The gap between men and women who answered affirmatively is only 1%, with about half of men (48%) and women (49%) saying they are seeking promotion.
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
In this year's survey, a third of anesthesiologists noted being good at what they do as the most rewarding aspect of their jobs, followed by making good money at a job they like (24%). Only 20% cited gratitude from patients. A scant 4% said they find nothing rewarding about their jobs.
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
In addition to asking what anesthesiologists find most rewarding, we asked what they find most challenging about their jobs. Nearly one third (31%) chose the number-one response, "having so many rules and regulations." Longer hours for less pay placed second at 24%, followed at 14% by difficulties getting reimbursement.
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
When asked this year whether they would still choose medicine if they had to do it over again, 73% of anesthesiologists answered affirmatively, a somewhat lower percentage than among other specialties.
Nearly 19,200 physicians in over 26 specialties described their income, career satisfaction, hours worked, and whether they'd go into medicine again.Medscape Features Slideshows, April 2016
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Contributor Information
Sarah Grisham
Senior Editor, Editorial Services
Art Science Code LLC
New York, New York
Disclosure: Sarah Grisham has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
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