| Primary Care, Specialists Salary Gap Narrowing
The salary gap between primary care and specialty physicians is beginning to close.
That’s the conclusion of a study by the Detroit
office of Sullivan, Cotter and Associates Inc., a New York City-based
compensation and human resource management consulting.
For the first time in the history of its 17-year-old
survey, "Physician Compensation and Productivity Survey Report,
Sullivan," Cotter and Associates said it noticed a shift in the
relative pay relationships between primary care specialties such as
family practice, internal medicine and pediatrics and specialists, such
as anesthesiology and radiology, some of the 10 major specialties it
tracks to gauge physician compensation trends and pay relationships.
Relying on data from 313 organizations, the survey
reported total cash compensation levels paid to 49,981 physicians,
residents, PhDs, mid-level providers and medical group executives.
In one example, Sullivan, Cotter and Associates cited
relative pay for family practice and radiologists, with family practice
doctors experiencing a slight increase in reimbursement and
radiologists a slight decrease.
"We suspect it could be linked back to the changes in
reimbursement and the impending impact of healthcare reform," said Kim
Mobley principal of Sullivan, Cotter and Associates and the director of
the survey. With President Obama advocating better pay for primary care
physicians, this is a trend that will be closely observed."
Address: Sullivan, Cotter and Associates, 45 Rockefeller Plaza, Suite 2048, New York, NY 10111-2000; (212) 332-3287, www.sullivancotter.com.
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