What's Happening to Physician Practices?
The Rise of the Employed Physician
This year, as in all previous Medscape compensation reports, both self-employed and employed male physicians earn more ($341,000 and $277,000, respectively) than their female counterparts ($261,000 and $217,000, respectively). The percentage differences in earnings between men and women do not vary much between self-employed (31%) and employed (28%) physicians. However, when looking at employed PCPs, for whom the playing field is more even, men still earn 15% more than women.
Employed physicians say they're glad they don't have the business responsibilities of employed physicians, One negative to employment is lower average income. PCPs make $207,000, only slightly less than their self-employed peers ($229,000). Self-employed specialists earn much more than employed specialists; both groups earn more than PCPs. Compared with last year's Medscape compensation report, however, employed PCPs experienced the highest percentage compensation increase (10%) vs self-employed PCPs (8%) and all specialists (6%).
Nevertheless, physicians who answered this survey and are employed, both men and women, had much higher satisfaction rates with their compensation than those who were self-employed. Almost three quarters (72%) of employed women compared with only 23% of self-employed women felt fairly compensated, as did 59% of employed men compared with 35% of those who are self-employed (Figure 3).
Figure 3. Physicians Who Feel Fairly Compensated
In this year's Medscape report, as in last year's, more women than men were employed (72% and 59%, respectively). Thirty-five percent of men and 23% of women were self-employed. The percentages were virtually identical to those reported last year.
Younger physicians in particular are heading toward employment rather than private practice. Reasons for this include a reluctance to deal with the business side of medicine and a desire for a predictable work schedule.[9] In the current Medscape report, at least 90% of those aged 34 years or younger are employed, and over three quarters (77%) of those between 35 and 39 years of age work for others (Figure 4). According to an American Medical Association report, practice ownership went down from 61% in 2007-2008 to 53% in 2012. Ownership was highest among surgical subspecialties and lowest in pediatrics, emergency medicine, and family medicine.[10]
Figure 4. Employment, by Age
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Any views expressed above are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of WebMD or Medscape.
Cite this: Carol Peckham. Compensation: Are Physicians Better Off Now Than 6 Years Ago? - Medscape - Apr 01, 2016.
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