This week Medscape released their 2017 Physician Compensation Report. The medical web resource company reported the findings from its annual physician survey on various aspects of the workforce across twenty-seven different specialties. The survey included nearly 19,200 physicians across the U.S.
The report shows that physicians in primary care make an average of $217K and those in specialties make an average of $316K, a 46% difference. These findings continue the trend of steadily rising physician salaries over the past 7 years. The growing shortage of physicians across many specialties has increased the competition between healthcare systems to retain and recruit physicians, a driving factor in the rising salaries.
Within specialties, orthopedic physicians and plastic surgeons make the most at $486K and $440K, respectively, while family medicine physicians and pediatricians make the least at $209K and $202K, respectively. Plastic surgeons and radiologists saw the biggest jump in salary, while many others such as internal medicine, dermatology, anesthesiology, and pediatrics virtually stayed the same.
Notably, for the first time, the survey asked respondents to report race. White/Caucasian physicians earned the most at $303K, while Black/African American physicians earned the least at $262K. They also found that White/Caucasian physicians are in a specialty over primary care at percentages higher than any other racial group.
Medscape also reported on earnings differences between men and women and found a 16% wage gap between men and women in primary care and a 37% wage gap between men and women in specialties. Fortunately, the report found that the gender wage gap between physicians 34 and under was significantly less than the gap between physicians older than 34, an encouragement as more women enter the profession.
Related to recent news, 52% of primary care physicians and 38% of those in specialties reported seeing an influx of new patients due to the ACA.
Other statistics collected include the percentage of physicians aiming for promotion, hours spent on paperwork/administration and seeing patients, minutes spent with each patient, percentage of physicians whose income has been affected by health insurance exchanges, and whether physicians will drop insurers that pay poorly.
To see the full report: https://www.medscape.com/slideshow/compensation-2017-overview-6008547#1