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Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017
| Contributor Information
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Medscape Cardiologist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
Cardiologists who responded to this year's Medscape compensation survey disclosed not only their compensation but also how many hours they work per week, how many minutes they spend with each patient, what is most rewarding—and most challenging—about their jobs, and more. (Note: Values in charts have been rounded and may differ from the sums cited in the captions.)
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Medscape Cardiologist Compensation Report 2017
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. Cardiologists were third from the top this year at $410,000, down from second place in 2016. Orthopedists were the highest earners this year at $489,000, and pediatricians the lowest at $202,000.
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Medscape Cardiologist Compensation Report 2017
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.
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Medscape Cardiologist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
Average compensation for foreign-trained cardiologists ($427,000) exceeds that of their US-trained peers ($404,000) by 14%. The average among all US-trained physicians surveyed is $301,000, second highest following those trained in Canada ($328,000).
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Medscape Cardiologist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
Among cardiologists, there is a wide gap in gender participation. More men than women of all races responded to the survey, but 83% of black/African American cardiologists are men and 17% are women, while the gap is even greater between white/Caucasian and Asian respondents: Among them, 89% and 88%, respectively, are men.
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Medscape Cardiologist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
This year, the highest average compensation was reported by cardiologists in the Northwest ($526,000), North Central ($506,000), and Southwest ($458,000) regions, while the lowest was found in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic (both at $381,000) and Great Lakes ($384,000).
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Medscape Cardiologist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
Physicians who become 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 cardiologists earn 19% more than their employed peers ($461,000 vs $386,000).
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Medscape Cardiologist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
This year, as in all previous years' reports, male cardiologists reported higher earnings than their female counterparts. Men earned $420,000, 28% more than women, who earned $327,000.
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Medscape Cardiologist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
More than three quarters of cardiologists this year say they receive both employer-subsidized health insurance (80%) and liability coverage (77%). In addition, 70% get paid time off and 66% have employer-subsidized dental insurance. Only 6% reported that they receive no benefits.
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Medscape Cardiologist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
This year, among all physicians, nearly one quarter (22%) of men and 10% of women reported that they work part-time (less than 40 hours per week). Among cardiologists, however, just 5% of both men and women surveyed work part-time.
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Medscape Cardiologist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
Half of cardiologists surveyed believe that they are fairly compensated, ranking them below 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.
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Medscape Cardiologist Compensation Report 2017
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 percent of cardiologists believe they deserve to be earning between 11% and 25% more, while 14% believe they should earn 76% or more than their current income.
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Medscape Cardiologist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
This year, cardiologists' participation in accountable care organizations (ACOs) increased to 41% from 39% in 2016, while 3% had concierge and 2% had cash-only practices. More than one quarter (28%) of cardiologist respondents reported that none of the payment models listed apply to them.
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Medscape Cardiologist Compensation Report 2017
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 cardiologists if they expect to participate, and at 55%, they were among the most likely to answer affirmatively.
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Medscape Cardiologist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
In this year's survey, when cardiologists were asked whether they would drop insurers that pay poorly, 20% said they would and more than half (52%) said they would not. (The question was not applicable to 28% of cardiologist respondents, most likely because they are employed by hospitals or other organizations.)
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Medscape Cardiologist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
Over one third (36%) of cardiologists reported that they have seen an influx of new patients over the past year as a result of the Affordable Care Act, compared with 25% in 2016.
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Medscape Cardiologist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
Most cardiologists (82%) 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 1% will drop current patients who are recipients. Six percent said they have not yet decided.
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Medscape Cardiologist Compensation Report 2017
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 cardiologists, 36% said they plan to participate in the exchanges, up from just 19% last year, while 21% do not plan to participate, down from 30%.
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Medscape Cardiologist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
Among cardiologists, 47% reported no change in income due to health insurance exchanges, 6% said their income had increased, and 13% said that it had decreased. One third of cardiologist respondents did not participate in an exchange.
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Medscape Cardiologist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
This year, 80% of all physicians surveyed said they either regularly or occasionally discuss the cost of treatment with patients, down from 85% last year. Forty-seven percent of cardiologists reported that they do so occasionally, and 33% said they do so regularly.
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Medscape Cardiologist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
When we asked cardiologists whether they charge patients for appointments missed without notice, 18% of solo practitioners said they do compared with 14% of respondents in single-specialty group practices and 10% of those in multispecialty groups.
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Medscape Cardiologist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
More than half (58%) of cardiologists surveyed spend more than 45 hours each week with patients—down from 64% last year—while 42% put in 45 hours per week or less.
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Medscape Cardiologist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
Most cardiologists who responded this year (68%) spend between 13 and 24 minutes with each patient. Eleven percent spend 25 minutes or more, and 21% spend 12 minutes or less. (Note: This slide applies to office-based physicians only.)
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Medscape Cardiologist Compensation Report 2017
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. Exceeding the overall rate, 62% of the cardiologists polled devote 10 hours or more to such tasks each week.
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Medscape Cardiologist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
Less than half (46%) of cardiologists who are employed indicated that they are seeking a promotion.
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Medscape Cardiologist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
Gender does not appear to play a major role in whether cardiologists seek promotion. The gap between men and women who answered affirmatively is 6%, with a slightly lower percentage of men (45%) than women (51%) saying they are seeking promotion.
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Medscape Cardiologist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
In this year's survey, 38% of cardiologists noted relationships with and gratitude from patients as the most rewarding aspect of their jobs. More than a quarter (29%) named being good at what they do and doing it well. Far lower percentages cited making good money at a job they like (11%), pride in their profession, and knowing they are making the world a better place (both at 9%). A scant 3% said they find nothing rewarding about their jobs.
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Medscape Cardiologist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
In addition to asking what cardiologists 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 21%, followed closely at 18% by having to work with an electronic health record (EHR) system.
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Medscape Cardiologist Compensation Report 2017
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, 80% of cardiologists answered affirmatively, ranking them in the upper, less regretful half of physicians.
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Medscape Cardiologist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
Of those who would choose medicine again, cardiologists rank near the top: 93% would also choose their own specialty again.
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Medscape Cardiologist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
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Medscape Cardiologist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
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Medscape Cardiologist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
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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