Primary care physician median compensation rose 10%
In the past five years, the total compensation of primary care physicians increased by more than 10%, nearly double that of specialty physicians, according to data released by the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA).
MGMA, which based its findings on comparative data from more than 136,000 providers from 5,800 organizations, points to the nationwide primary care physician shortage and the premium organizations are willing to pay to combat the shortage as a factor for the dramatic increase in median compensation.
The increase in compensation is not necessarily tied to an increase in productivity, MGMA notes. For example, family medicine physicians saw a 12% rise in total compensation over the past five years. However, their median number of work relative value units increased by less than 1%. This can be attributed to more benefits being offered by practices to attract and retain physicians, such as higher signing bonuses, continuing medical education stipends, and relocation expense reimbursements.