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Carol Peckham | July 10, 2017
| Contributor Information
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Medscape Hospitalist Compensation Report 2017
Carol Peckham | July 10, 2017 | Contributor Information
Hospitalists 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.
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Medscape Hospitalist Compensation Report 2017
Carol Peckham | July 10, 2017 | Contributor Information
Thirty-nine percent of hospitalists are internists. The other major hospitalist specialties are pediatrics (13%), psychiatry (10%), and family medicine (7%). The graph does not include specialties with a hospitalist population of less than 2%.
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Medscape Hospitalist Compensation Report 2017
Carol Peckham | July 10, 2017 | Contributor Information
Hospitalists were asked to provide their annual compensation for patient care. For employed hospitalists, patient-care compensation includes salary, bonus, and profit-sharing contributions. For partners, this includes earnings after taxes and deductible business expenses but before income tax. When asked about their compensation for patient care, hospitalist groups that reported higher earnings than their non-hospitalist counterparts were neurologists, psychiatrists, internists, family physicians, and pediatricians (by a very slight margin), which are the physician groups that comprise most hospitalists. (Only groups that comprised 2% or more of total hospitalists were used in this and subsequent comparison graphs.)
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Medscape Hospitalist Compensation Report 2017
Carol Peckham | July 10, 2017 | Contributor Information
When asked whether their incomes had increased, stayed the same, or decreased this year, hospitalists' responses varied widely depending on the specialty. Ob/gyn and pediatric hospitalists actually made less this year and family physicians and internists only slightly more. The big increases were among hospitalist psychiatrists, neurologists, and anesthesiologists.
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Medscape Hospitalist Compensation Report 2017
Carol Peckham | July 10, 2017 | Contributor Information
Average compensation for US-trained hospitalists exceeds that of their foreign-trained peers, but by only $7000 ($265,000 vs $258,000). 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 Hospitalist Compensation Report 2017
Carol Peckham | July 10, 2017 | Contributor Information
Only 30% of non-hospitalist primary care physicians (PCPs) are white/Caucasian compared with over half (54%) of hospitalists (most of whom are PCPs). Conversely, 9% of hospitalists and 28% of non-hospitalist PCPs are Hispanic/Latino, and only 6% of hospitalists compared with 30% of non-hospitalist PCPs are black/African American.
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Medscape Hospitalist Compensation Report 2017
Carol Peckham | July 10, 2017 | Contributor Information
Women comprise about one third (34%) of all physicians. Among specific hospitalists specialties, a higher percentage of ob/gyn and anesthesiologist hospitalists are women (66% and 30%, respectively) versus non-hospitalists (55% and 23%, respectively are female). Fewer hospitalists in other physician groups are women compared with the non-hospitalist equivalent.
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Medscape Hospitalist Compensation Report 2017
Carol Peckham | July 10, 2017 | Contributor Information
Male hospitalists, as is typical among physicians in general, earn more than their female counterparts. The difference between male and female hospitalists, however, varies widely according to specialty. Male anesthesiologist hospitalists make 25% more than their female counterparts, while male family physician and ob/gyn hospitalists only make 2% and 4% more, respectively.
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Medscape Hospitalist Compensation Report 2017
Carol Peckham | July 10, 2017 | Contributor Information
Hospital medicine is still a relatively new subspecialty, so it's not surprising that, overall, hospitalists are younger than non-hospitalists. Over two thirds (68%) are 49 or younger compared with only about half (51%) of non-hospitalists.
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Medscape Hospitalist Compensation Report 2017
Carol Peckham | July 10, 2017 | Contributor Information
This year, the highest average hospitalist compensation was reported by those in the Northwest ($277,000), West ($274,000), and South Central and Great Lakes regions (both $272,000). The lowest was found in the Mid-Atlantic ($244,000), Northeast ($251,000) and North Central ($259,000) regions.
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Medscape Hospitalist Compensation Report 2017
Carol Peckham | July 10, 2017 | Contributor Information
This year, among non-hospitalists, nearly one quarter (22%) of women and 11% of men reported that they work part-time (less than 40 hours per week). Among hospitalists, slightly fewer men (8%) and women (16%) work part-time.
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Medscape Hospitalist Compensation Report 2017
Carol Peckham | July 10, 2017 | Contributor Information
More hospitalist neurologists (65%), family physicians (60%), internists (56%), and pediatricians (54%) are happier with their compensation than their non-hospitalist counterparts (49%, 53%, 46%, and 52%, respectively). Of note, these hospitalist groups also earn more than their counterparts. Hospitalist anesthesiologists and ob/gyns make less than their non-hospitalist peers and are also less satisfied.
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Medscape Hospitalist Compensation Report 2017
Carol Peckham | July 10, 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 hospitalists if they expect to participate, and their responses varied widely by specialty, with over half of hospitalist anesthesiologists—but only 27% of psychiatrists and 29% of ob/gyns—expecting to participate.
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Medscape Hospitalist Compensation Report 2017
Carol Peckham | July 10, 2017 | Contributor Information
The percentages of hospitalists who reported an influx of new patients due to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) vary widely. Over half of hospitalist family physicians (55%) and psychiatrists (51%) report more patients, but only 28% of pediatricians and anesthesiologists have seen an influx.
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Medscape Hospitalist Compensation Report 2017
Carol Peckham | July 10, 2017 | Contributor Information
This year, 66% of hospitalists say they are continuing to take new and current Medicare and Medicaid patients, which is only slightly less than that reported by non-hospitalists (70%). Only 5% of hospitalists say they will stop taking current and new Medicare or Medicaid patients, compared with 8% of non-hospitalists. (It is nonapplicable for 24% of hospitalists compared with 15% of non-hospitalists.)
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Medscape Hospitalist Compensation Report 2017
Carol Peckham | July 10, 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. This year, 29% of hospitalists said they plan to participate in the exchanges, 21% do not, and 51% are still unsure.
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Medscape Hospitalist Compensation Report 2017
Carol Peckham | July 10, 2017 | Contributor Information
When hospitalists who participated in health insurance exchanges last year were asked whether their income had been affected, 45% reported no change and 7% said it had increased. Ten percent experienced a decrease. Thirty-nine percent did not participate.
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Medscape Hospitalist Compensation Report 2017
Carol Peckham | July 10, 2017 | Contributor Information
In Medscape's current Physician Compensation Report, 64% of hospitalists said they discuss the cost of treatment with patients and 26% do so regularly. Fifteen percent of hospitalists don't discuss costs. This is not applicable to 21% of them.
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Medscape Hospitalist Compensation Report 2017
Carol Peckham | July 10, 2017 | Contributor Information
Mortgages comprise the highest percentage of hospitalist debt (72%). Car payments—either loans (48%) or lease payments (23%)—make up 71% of hospitalists' debt. Paying off school debt comes in at 37%.
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Medscape Hospitalist Compensation Report 2017
Carol Peckham | July 10, 2017 | Contributor Information
More hospitalists are still paying off their school debts compared with their non-hospitalist counterparts. The average younger ages of hospitalists compared with non-hospitalists may help explain this difference. The exceptions are anesthesiologist and ob/gyn hospitalists, who have less school debt than their counterparts. These two are the only hospitalist groups that reported lower salaries than non-hospitalist peers.
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Medscape Hospitalist Compensation Report 2017
Carol Peckham | July 10, 2017 | Contributor Information
Nearly half (44%) of hospitalists spent 46 hours or more per week with patients. This is far more than that reported by non-hospitalists (32%).
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Medscape Hospitalist Compensation Report 2017
Carol Peckham | July 10, 2017 | Contributor Information
Twenty-two percent of hospitalists said they spent between 13 and 16 minutes with patients and 34% spend 17-24 minutes. Among non-hospitalists, 30% each spend those amounts of time.
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Medscape Hospitalist Compensation Report 2017
Carol Peckham | July 10, 2017 | Contributor Information
There's no advantage in being a hospitalist in terms of paperwork reduction. Among hospitalists responding to this year's survey, 56% spend 10 hours or more per week on paperwork and administrative tasks, which is the same as that reported by non-hospitalists.
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Medscape Hospitalist Compensation Report 2017
Carol Peckham | July 10, 2017 | Contributor Information
About half of hospitalists aim for promotion (49%), slightly more than what was reported by all employed physicians (42%).
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Medscape Hospitalist Compensation Report 2017
Carol Peckham | July 10, 2017 | Contributor Information
About a third (34%) of hospitalists believe that being good at what they do is the most rewarding aspect of their job, followed by relationships with patients (23%). Only 15% chose "making good money at a job that I like," and 12% cited "making the world a better place." Three percent found nothing rewarding.
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Medscape Hospitalist Compensation Report 2017
Carol Peckham | July 10, 2017 | Contributor Information
In addition to asking what hospitalists find most rewarding, we asked what they find most challenging about their jobs. Nearly one third (29%) chose "having so many rules and regulations." This was followed by "dealing with difficult patients" (18%) and longer hours for less pay (17%).
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Medscape Hospitalist Compensation Report 2017
Carol Peckham | July 10, 2017 | Contributor Information
When asked this year whether they would still choose medicine if they had to do it over again, the great majority of hospitalists are content with their general career choice. Neurologist hospitalists had the highest percentage (84%) and anesthesiologists and ob/gyns the lowest (72%). These two hospitalist groups also reported lower salaries than their non-hospitalist peers.
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Medscape Hospitalist Compensation Report 2017
Carol Peckham | July 10, 2017 | Contributor Information
Of those who would choose medicine again, there was little difference between hospitalists and non-hospitalists in whether they would also choose the same specialties again. Only ob/gyn hospitalists showed a large preference for their choice (85%) over non-hospitalists (76%).
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Medscape Hospitalist Compensation Report 2017
Carol Peckham | July 10, 2017 | Contributor Information
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Medscape Hospitalist Compensation Report 2017
Carol Peckham | July 10, 2017 | Contributor Information
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Medscape Hospitalist Compensation Report 2017
Carol Peckham | July 10, 2017 | Contributor Information
More than 19,200 physicians in over 27 specialties responded to this year's Medscape compensation survey and told about their compensation, productivity, challenges, and more.Medscape Features Slideshows, April 2017
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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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Contributor Information
Carol Peckham
Director, Editorial Services
Art Science Code LLC
New York, New York
Disclosure: Carol Peckham has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
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