The study, Physician Compensation and Production Survey: 2009 Report Based on 2008 Data, found that physicians in primary care compounded a history of generally flat compensation this year with a reported 2 percent increase (-1.73 percent adjusted for inflation) to a median of $186,044. Specialists’ compensation rose 2.19 percent (-1.59 percent when adjusted for inflation) to a median of $339,738. Inflation in 2008 amounted to a 3.8 percent increase in the U.S. Consumer Price Index.
Physicians in internal medicine fared the worst among their primary care counterparts, posting an increase of less than 1 percent in compensation in 2008 (-3.37 percent with inflation considered).
Among specialists, emergency medicine physicians, dermatologists and general surgeons all reported flat salaries before inflation was factored in, with declines of up to -3.2 percent after inflation. Gastroenterology, up 7.38 percent, and pulmonary medicine, up 6.65 percent, were among the few specialties that posted nominal gains in compensation in 2008. Psychiatry posted a 1.32 percent loss in physician compensation before inflation. With an increase of just 7.16 percent from 2004 to 2008, psychiatry’s five-year compensation increase was half that of other specialties.
MGMA observed that median collections for professional charges (the money a practice receives for a physician’s professional services) were generally flat in primary care and declined moderately (-6.53 percent) for specialties. This decline may signal the leading edge of the economic downturn in 2008, demonstrating the trend of patients electing to postpone care.
Read the MGMA release on the physician compensation study.
