MGMA Reports Nominal Increases in Physician Compensation in 2003

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. --Physicians experienced only minor increases overall in compensation during 2003, according to the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) Physician Compensation and Production Survey: 2004 Report Based on 2003 Data. For primary-care practices, figures suggest that compensation is not keeping up with physicians' workloads, and their cost of doing business may be increasing at a faster rate than specialists'. Among specialists, the MGMA report found that cardiologists' compensation levels have increased over the past year as recruiting has become more competitive.

The MGMA report, the largest of its kind, outlines compensation and production indicators for more than 40,000 providers in 105 physician specialties and 30 nonphysician specialties in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Responding primary-care practices reported a slight increase in physician compensation* 2.4 percent* and a 6.1 percent increase in charges. This may indicate primary care physicians are still attempting to maintain their compensation by increasing their productivity. This is the third straight year MGMA has observed the increases in primary care productivity outpacing increases in compensation.

"Growth in primary care has been so limited that we fear this field could become unattractive to young physicians," said William F. Jessee, MD, FACMPE, president and CEO of the MGMA. "Primary-care practices will continue to struggle to survive unless their financial viability improves. If it does not, we are likely to see more specialists in multi-specialty groups refuse to subsidize the unprofitable primary care segment of their group."

Overall, specialists reported a 7.95 percent increase in compensation in 2003. Noninvasive cardiologists reported a 13.59 percent increase in compensation due in part to the competitive recruitment environment.

"While cardiology groups struggle to recruit for their specialty, they also may experience increasing compensation because more patient testing is being performed in the physician office setting," said Frederic R. Simmons Jr., chief executive officer, Clearwater (Fla.) Cardiovascular & Intervention Consultants, and chair of the MGMA Survey Advisory Committee. "Physician practices are performing clinical modalities such as echocardiography and nuclear medicine that were once delivered in an institutional setting. Generally, noninvasive cardiologists are supervising, reading and interpreting these tests, creating a larger, global revenue stream for these practices and a greater convenience for patients." 

Other specialties that reported gains in compensation included gastroenterology, ophthalmology, and urology.

Certified registered nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) reported an 11 percent increase in compensation in 2003 possibly because practices are growing to rely on these professionals to perform procedures as a way to cope with anesthesiologist shortages. For the first time, the MGMA report also features collections and relative value units (RVUs) for non-physician providers.

MGMA also released the MGMA Management Compensation Survey: 2004 Report Based on 2003 Data which indicated that among executive positions, practice administrators in practices with 6 or less physicians exhibited a 6.88 percent decline in median compensation while practice administrators in mid-sized and large groups* seven to 25 full time equivalent (FTE) physicians and greater than 25 FTE physicians* reported only 3.28 percent and 5.53 percent increases, respectively. The MGMA report also indicated that compensation still shows upward trends for most senior level positions with laboratory directors reporting the biggest gain of 9.76 percent. 

Source: Medical Group Management Association

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