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Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017
| Contributor Information
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Medscape Orthopedist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
Orthopedists 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.)
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Medscape Orthopedist 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. Orthopedists were the highest earners this year at $489,000, and pediatricians the lowest at $202,000.
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Medscape Orthopedist 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, including orthopedists (10%), with plastic surgeons' and allergists' gains the largest at 24% and 16%, respectively.
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Medscape Orthopedist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
Average compensation for foreign-trained orthopedists equals that of their US-trained peers (both $489,000). 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 Orthopedist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
Among orthopedists, there is a wide gap in gender participation. More men than women of all races responded to the survey, with a wide gap among white/Caucasian and Asian orthopedists: 91% and 88%, respectively, are men. Other racial groups were represented by too low a percentage of respondents to be included in this comparison.
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Medscape Orthopedist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
This year, the highest average compensation was reported by orthopedists in the Great Lakes ($546,000), North Central ($537,000), and Northeast ($518,000) regions, while the lowest was found in the South Central ($403,000), Mid-Atlantic ($460,000), and Southwest ($474,000).
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Medscape Orthopedist Compensation Report 2017
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 orthopedists earn 23% more than their employed peers ($542,000 vs $439,000).
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Medscape Orthopedist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
This year, as in all previous years' reports, full-time male orthopedists reported higher earnings than their female counterparts. Men earned $504,000, 48% more than women, who earned $341,000.
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Medscape Orthopedist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
More than three quarters of orthopedists this year say they receive employer-subsidized health insurance (78%). Sixty-nine percent have liability coverage (69%), 60% have employer-subsidized dental insurance, and 55% get paid time off. Only 12% reported that they receive no benefits.
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Medscape Orthopedist Compensation Report 2017
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 orthopedists, 18% of women and 8% of men surveyed work part-time.
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Medscape Orthopedist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
In spite of their high earnings relative to other physicians, less than half (48%) of orthopedists surveyed believe that they are fairly compensated, ranking them toward the bottom among all physicians. At the bottom of the list are nephrologists (41%) and endocrinologists (44%). Emergency medicine physicians, at 68%, rank highest.
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Medscape Orthopedist 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. Thirty-four percent of orthopedists believe that they deserve to be earning between 11% and 25% more, while 21% believe their current income should be increased by over 75%.
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Medscape Orthopedist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
This year, orthopedists' participation in accountable care organizations (ACOs) remained the same as in 2016, at 29%, while 2% had concierge and 5% had cash-only practices. More than a third (37%) of orthopedist respondents reported that none of the payment models listed apply to them.
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Medscape Orthopedist 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 orthopedists if they expect to participate, and at 47%, they were in the middle of those likely to answer affirmatively.
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Medscape Orthopedist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
In this year's survey, when orthopedists were asked whether they would drop insurers that pay poorly, 37% said they would and less than half (44%) said they would not. (The question was not applicable to 20% of orthopedist respondents, most likely because they are employed by hospitals or other organizations.)
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Medscape Orthopedist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
Nearly a third (29%) of orthopedists reported that they have seen an influx of new patients over the past year as a result of the Affordable Care Act, about the same as in 2016 (30%).
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Medscape Orthopedist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
Most orthopedists (77%) surveyed said they will continue to take new and treat current Medicare and Medicaid patients. Only 4% indicated that they intend to stop taking new patients, and 3% will drop current patients who are recipients. Ten percent said they have not yet decided.
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Medscape Orthopedist 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 orthopedists, 38% said they plan to participate in the exchanges, up from just 21% last year, while 26% do not plan to participate, down from 34%.
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Medscape Orthopedist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
Among orthopedists, 35% reported no change in income due to health insurance exchanges, 5% said their income had increased, and 24% said that it had decreased. Thirty-seven percent of orthopedist respondents did not participate in an exchange.
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Medscape Orthopedist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
This year, 83% of orthopedists surveyed said they either regularly or occasionally discuss the cost of treatment with patients. Half reported that they do so occasionally and a third said they do so regularly.
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Medscape Orthopedist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
When we asked orthopedists whether they charge patients for appointments missed without notice, 27% of solo practitioners said they do compared with 19% of respondents in single-specialty group practices and 24% of those in multispecialty groups.
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Medscape Orthopedist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
Thirty-nine percent of orthopedists surveyed spend more than 45 hours each week with patients, down from 44% last year.
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Medscape Orthopedist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
About half of orthopedists who responded this year (49%) spend between 13 and 24 minutes with each patient. Only 3% spend 25 minutes or more, and 48% spend 12 minutes or less. (Note: This slide applies to office-based physicians only.)
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Medscape Orthopedist 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, 59% of the orthopedists polled devote 10 hours or more to such tasks each week.
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Medscape Orthopedist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
Less than half (38%) of orthopedists who are employed indicated that they are seeking a promotion.
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Medscape Orthopedist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
Gender does not appear to play a major role in whether orthopedists seek promotion. The gap between men and women who answered affirmatively is 7%, with a slightly higher percentage of men (38%) than women (31%) saying they are seeking promotion.
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Medscape Orthopedist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
In this year's survey, 40% of orthopedists cited relationships with and gratitude from patients as the most rewarding aspect of their jobs. Nearly a third (32%) named being good at what they do and doing it well. Far lower percentages chose the other available options. A scant 1% said they find nothing rewarding about their jobs.
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Medscape Orthopedist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
In addition to asking what orthopedists 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 17%, followed closely at 16% by having difficulties getting fair reimbursement.
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Medscape Orthopedist 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, 79% of orthopedists answered affirmatively, ranking them in the upper, less regretful half of physicians.
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Medscape Orthopedist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
Of those who would choose medicine again, orthopedists rank second from the top: 95% would also choose their own specialty again.
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Medscape Orthopedist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
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Medscape Orthopedist Compensation Report 2017
Sarah Grisham | April 12, 2017 | Contributor Information
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Medscape Orthopedist 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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