Physician's Practice - November 2008 - (Page 40)

FINANCE INCOME TRENDS In 2006, primary-care physicians saw their salaries jump 11 percent to $161,000. For 2007, salaries rose more modestly to $171,500 — an increase of about 6.5 percent. Still, not bad. There are some subtle indications that these doctors are a bit more satisﬁed than they used to be with the money they make. When asked to describe their net incomes as “excellent,” “appropriate,” or disappointing,” here’s what we found: • Internists, at 56.25 percent, are still the most dissatisﬁed with their incomes. But this collection of unhappy healers shrank by nearly 10 percent since last year. • In contrast, family-practice docs collectively kicked their satisfaction 18.4% 19.22% OVERALL INCOME TREND — ALL RESPONDENTS 16.3% 14.59% level up a notch: This year shows a general upswing in earnings satisfaction, with 43.75 percent marking either “appropriate” or “excellent” — an 11.05 percent rise since last year. • Heads up, though, about pediatricians: Traditionally the least moneyfocused, pediatricians may be showing some signs of unrest. In 2007, 13.4 percent of them described their income as “excellent,” more than any other group of primary-care physicians. This year, that ﬁgure dropped to 7.94 percent, with the difference sinking down to the “appropriate” column. Overhead, while still vexing many physicians, is slightly less onerous compared to the previous year, when more than 62 percent of respondents reported overhead above 50 percent. Just over 55 percent of respondents currently report their overhead to be eating more than half their net medical revenues. What’s more, one in ﬁve put overhead between 40 percent and 50 percent — a nice improvement over last year, when only 16.5 percent said this. The Medical Group Management Association says that a healthy overhead for a medical practice should be no more than 50 percent, so the change in reported ﬁgures bodes well. And, even better, some physicians have pulled themselves out of the quicksand. Last year, 5.2 percent were drowning in overhead of 80 percent to 100 percent; that number has dropped back to 2.7 percent, which is comparable to the ﬁrst year we ran the survey (2.4 percent). Unfortunately, frustration regarding primary-care earnings vs. specialist earnings persists. This is nothing against the specialists themselves; primary-care docs recognize and appreciate the additional training a specialist must go through. “Not too many people have had the residency training for bypass surgery; that’s tough, and you should be compensated properly,” says Stephen Blair, a family physician with Austin, Texasbased Capital Family Practice. WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM I 2006 13.4% I 2007 9.4% 11.39% 11.39% 8.9% 2.4% 2.85% $300,001 + $275,001– $300,000 $250,001– $275,000 3.6% 2.14% $225,001– $250,000 4.5% 5.34% $200,001– $225,000 5.7% 6.05% $175,001– $200,000 9.4% $150,001– $175,000 $125,001– $150,000 $100,001– $125,000 12.7% 13.17% IN SUMMARY The future of primary care is far from secure, but our survey shows a few encouraging signs of optimism: • Nearly half of respondents (47.24 percent) received no bonuses. Of those who did, nearly two-thirds (64.4 percent) report a bonus ranging between 1 and 10 percent. • Salaries rose to $171,500 — an increase of about 6.5 percent. • Approximately 55 percent of respon- dents report their overhead to be eating more than half their gross revenues; last year, this ﬁgure was 62 percent. income perception from “disappointing” to “appropriate.” general upswing in earnings satisfaction, with 43.75 percent marking either “appropriate” or “excellent” — an 11.05 percent rise since last year. change in income satisfaction: In 2007, 13.4 percent qualiﬁed their incomes as “excellent.” This year, that ﬁgure dropped to 7.94 percent. • Women tend to stick with the same practice longer than men: About one in 10 female physicians report staying in their current practice for 11 to 15 years, compared to just 3.23 percent of male physicians. • 17 percent of internists shifted their • The urge to close up shop has dropped 10 percent since last year, to 3.6 percent. • Family-practice physicians showed a • About 85 percent offer no ancillary services. For those that do, 9.0 percent offer in-house diagnostic testing, 3.4 percent perform minor surgical procedures, and 1.9 percent sell health products. • Pediatricians showed the biggest • About half of all respondents are partners in their practices. 40 | PHYSICIANS PRACTICE | NOVEMBER 2008 $100,000 or less http://WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Physician's Practice - November 2008

Physician's Practice - November 2008 Contents Death of Solo Practice Just a Myth Letters HSAy What? Noteworthy Finding Lost Revenue: The Search for Billing and Coding Gold Getting More: Our Annual Physician Compensation Survey ’Tis the Season to be Neutral Ask the Experts Evaluating Paperless Labs HR in a Box? The Guide Coding Third-Party Audits on the Rise Branding the Cash-Only Practice Intra-Office Tug-of-Wars Stickin‘ Up For Yourself Classifieds Advertiser Index

Physician's Practice - November 2008

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