Hospitalist Compensation Up 8% in Latest Survey
Annual median compensation for adult hospitalists in the U.S. rose 8% to a record high $252,996 in 2013, according to SHM’s newly released 2014 State of Hospital Medicine (SOHM) report.
Hospitalists in the South region continue to earn the most, with a median compensation of $258,020—essentially static with $258,793 reported in 2012—according to data from the Medical Group Management Association Physician Compensation and Production Survey: 2014 Report Based on 2013 Data. The MGMA compensation and productivity data are wrapped into the biennial SOHM, whose 2014 edition debuted last week.
The largest compensation jump was for hospitalists in the West region, who logged an 11.8% gain in annual median compensation to $249,894 for 2013, up from $223,574 reported in 2012. Hospitalists in the Midwest saw a 10% increase, up to $261,868 from $237,987. Practitioners in the East had both the smallest increase, 4.8%, and the lowest median compensation, $238,676 in 2013, which is up slightly from $227,656. Part of the compensation push is tied to upward pressure on productivity. Nationwide, median relative value units (RVUs) ticked up 3.3% to 4,297 in 2013 from 4,159 in the 2012 report.
Median collection-to-work RVUs rose 6.8% to 51.5 from 48.21. Production (10.5%) and performance (6.6%) in 2013 were also slightly larger portions of mean compensation than in 2012, figures many industry experts expect will increase in the future. The 2014 SOHM report also notes that academic/university hospitalists typically receive more in base pay, while hospitalists in private practice receive less.
“It is the very best survey, quantity and quality, of hospital medicine [HM] groups,” says William “Tex” Landis, MD, FHM, medical director of WellSpan Hospitalists in York, Pa., and a member and former chair of SHM’s Practice Analysis Committee. “And so it becomes the best source of information to make important decisions about resourcing and operating hospital medicine groups.”
Beyond analyzing hospitalists’ median compensation, the SOHM report delves into scheduling, productivity, staffing, a breakdown of payment allocations, practice models, and dozens of other topics that HM group leaders find useful. In all, 499 groups representing some 6,300 providers were included in the survey. TH
SHM will also be hosting a free webinar Oct. 14 to discuss the specifics of the report.
