Physician pay higher in 2014, though women earn less; ACO involvement up, survey says
On average, specialists earned $284,000 a year while primary care physicians earned about $195,000, according to the Medscape survey.
On average, specialists earned $284,000 a year while primary care physicians earned about $195,000, according to the survey, which polled 19,500 physicians across 25 specialties.
Orthopedists rank highest when it comes to physician compensation, a new report by WebMD-owned Medscape shows. Most specialists and primary care physicians saw modest increases in pay in 2014, though women physicians earned less.
According to the report, orthopedists earn an average of $450,000 a year combining income from patient care and earnings from non-patient care activities, while cardiologists came in second, earning a total of $395,000 a year.
On average, specialists earned $284,000 a year while primary care physicians earned about $195,000, according to the survey, which polled 19,500 physicians across 25 specialties.
See the full compensation table below
Interestingly, orthopedics had the second lowest number of female physicians with 9 percent, while urology recorded the lowest female physician rate at 8 percent. Orthopedics was also among the lower-ranking specialties when it came to income satisfaction, with only 42 percent saying they feel fairly compensated.
On the lower end, pediatrics showed the lowest total compensation at $196,000, though exactly half said they felt fairly compensated. Also, 50 percent of pediatricians polled were women.
The average compensation for a self-employed male physician was $324,000, compared to $259,000 for female physicians.
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The report also points to changes in payment models for physicians since 2011, with accountable care organization participation hitting new heights in 2014. In 2011, 3 percent of physicians participated in an ACO, compared to 30 percent in 2014. Another 7 percent said they intend to join an ACO in 2015.
And despite warnings from the American Medical Association that the increase in regulations would cause Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements to drop over time, 79 percent of self-employed physicians said they plan to continue taking new patients who use these government programs.
Also, while the Medscape report claimed that 58percent of physicians received less than $100 from private insurers for a new-patient office visit, only 22 percent said they would drop poor-paying insurers.
At the same time, 74 percent of physicians said they discuss treatment costs with patients, up from 68 percent in 2012. Only 25 percent said they have those discussions regularly.
The report also analyzed physician pay by state, finding North Dakota and Alaska have the highest overall physician compensation at $330,000. On the other hand, the District of Columbia ranked lowest with an average compensation of $186,000 and Rhode Island ranked second to last at $217,000.
Here’s the full table of specialties and their compensation data. Click on the headers to sort by that row:
| Specialty | Patient care pay | Non-patient care pay | Change over 2013 | % Female | Feel fairly paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Specialty | Patient care pay | Non-patient care pay | Change over 2013 | % Female | Feel fairly paid |
| Orthopedics | $421,000 | $29,000 | 2% | 9% | 42% |
| Cardiology | $376,000 | $19,000 | 7% | 12% | 44% |
| Gastroenterology | $370,000 | $14,000 | 7% | 14% | 46% |
| Anesthesiology | $358,000 | $8,000 | 6% | 23% | 53% |
| Plastic Surgery | $354,000 | $26,000 | 10% | 18% | 44% |
| Radiology | $351,000 | $6,000 | 3% | 18% | 53% |
| Urology | $344,000 | $26,000 | -1% | 8% | 43% |
| Dermatology | $339,000 | $26,000 | 10% | 32% | 61% |
| General Surgery | $317,000 | $14,000 | 7% | 20% | 41% |
| Emergency Medicine | $306,000 | $13,000 | 12% | 22% | 60% |
| Oncology | $302,000 | $15,000 | 4% | 28% | 44% |
| Pulmonary Medicine | $296,000 | $19,000 | 15% | 17% | 45% |
| Ophthalmology | $292,000 | $14,000 | 0% | 22% | 40% |
| Critical Care | $283,000 | $13,000 | 1% | 32% | 45% |
| Pathology | $267,000 | $10,000 | 12% | 38% | 60% |
| OB/GYN & Women's Health | $249,000 | $10,000 | 2% | 50% | 45% |
| Allergy & Immunology | $247,000 | $15,000 | 0% | 26% | 41% |
| Nephrology | $243,000 | $21,000 | 1% | 25% | 42% |
| Neurology | $229,000 | $24,000 | 5% | 28% | 45% |
| Psychiatric & Mental Health | $216,000 | $10,000 | 10% | 37% | 56% |
| HIV/D | $213,000 | $13,000 | 22% | 31% | 47% |
| Rheumatology | $205,000 | $14,000 | -4% | 29% | 47% |
| Internal Medicine | $196,000 | $11,000 | 4% | 33% | 45% |
| Diabetes & Endocrinology | $196,000 | $20,000 | 7% | 44% | 42% |
| Family Medicine | $195,000 | $10,000 | 10% | 35% | 48% |
| Pediatrics | $189,000 | $7,000 | 4% | 50% | 50% |
Twitter: @HenryPowderly
