ALEXANDRIA, Va.—Most specialties saw modest increases in compensation in 2009, but many provider organizations continue to operate at a significant loss, according to findings in the American Medical Group Association's 2010 Medical Group Compensation and Financial Survey.
The survey found that 76 percent of the specialties experienced increases in compensation in 2009, with the overall average increase around 3.8 percent. In 2008, 81 percent experienced an average increase around 3.5 percent.
The primary care specialties (excluding hospitalists) saw about a 3.8 percent increase in 2009 (same in 2008), while other medical specialties averaged an increase of 2.4 percent and surgical specialties averaged around 3.8 percent. The primary care specialties saw about a 3.8 percent increase in 2008, while other medical and surgical specialties averaged 6 percent.
The survey reports that during 2009, the specialties experiencing the largest increases in compensation were pulmonary disease (10.37 percent), dermatology (7 percent), and urology (6.36 percent).
"The survey indicates that compensation continues to fluctuate only marginally for most specialties," said Donald W. Fisher, PhD, CAE, president and chief executive officer of AMGA. "The modest increases seen this year reflect the negative impact of declining reimbursements, competition for specialists, the cost of new technology, and other factors on practice revenues in most parts of the country."
The section of the survey that examines financial operations found that medical groups were still faced with significant financial challenges. Most regions were doing better than in 2008, but margins are thin. In 2009, organizations in the Eastern and Western regions were operating at break even. Organizations in the Southern region continue to operate at a loss (-1,034 per physician in 2009, -$120 per physician in 2008). Groups in the Northern region continued to experience significant losses (-9,943 per physician in 2009, -$3,254 per physician in 2008).
"In the face of the current economic climate, these medical groups continue to rise to the challenge of delivering the highest quality, coordinated care to the patients they serve," said Fisher. "Much of the losses we see in 2009 are supplemented by other non-clinical revenue sources and/or funding from health systems with which groups are associated. Most of the groups represented in the survey are part of large organized systems of care that make substantial investments in technology, operations, and the most innovative care processes to best serve populations under their care, and are able to achieve remarkable results for their patients. Our current transaction-based reimbursement system is largely indifferent to these results and to the efforts of medical groups to elevate the standard of care in the U.S. Currently AMGA is working to address the inequities of the current payment model as part of overall healthcare reform and to develop a model that incorporates a substantial component reflecting achievement of quality results."
