Physician Compensation on the Rise as Data Reports Pre-Pandemic Levels of Stability

MGMA's 33rd annual DataDive Provider Compensation reveals greater productivity after challenging few years

ENGLEWOOD, Colo., May 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Following the financial impacts that the COVID-19 pandemic left on physician practices in 2020, new research from the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) reveals that compensation for all physicians is on the rise. The 2022 edition of MGMA DataDive Provider Compensation, which reflects data from more than 192,000 providers across more than 7,700 physician-owned and hospital-owned organizations and academic practices, reveals that compensation for providers varies dramatically by state, physician-owned practices report higher levels of productivity than in previous years, and while COVID-19 has subsided, physician burnout and disruptive patients have not.

Redesigned this year for a better user experience, MGMA DataDive Provider Compensation features new physician subspecialties, including anesthesiology: cardiology, hospital medicine: nocturnist, and neurology: neurocritical care, additional benchmarks, such as starting bonus amounts, and innovative filters and reports to allow for even more customization.

Compensation Trends By Specialty 

Primary care, surgical specialist and nonsurgical specialist physician, and advanced practice provider compensation all increased over the last year. Compensation for most physician specialties saw slight increases between 2019 and 2021 with productivity numbers staying relatively flat over the two-year period.

Additionally, post-residency providers newly hired to a practice in 2021 report earning 7% to 10% more in guaranteed compensation than their counterparts in 2020.

"As we continue to emerge from the pandemic, I'm pleased to announce that data trends are more than stable, despite the countless challenges the industry has experienced over the past two years," said Halee Fischer-Wright, MD, MMM, FAAP, FACMPE, president and chief executive officer at MGMA. "Providing a more holistic view of the industry, the insightful and actionable data in this report is invaluable for healthcare practices — both today and for ongoing future planning."

Regional Trends

Compensation for providers varies dramatically by state. Primary care physicians in southern and western regions saw a 7.29% increase and 6.28% increase respectively, compared to their counterparts in eastern and midwest regions, who saw a 2.24% and 3.9% increase respectively.

Primary care physicians earn the most in Mississippi, receiving $100,000 more in total compensation than their counterparts in Arizona. While a large discrepancy, the difference in surgical and nonsurgical specialist pay is even greater. Surgical specialty physicians earn more than $600,000 more in Nevada than their counterparts in Idaho, and nonsurgical specialty physicians report earning $370,000 more in Mississippi than their counterparts in Idaho.

2021 Productivity Trends

For additional analysis into DataDive Provider Compensation, MGMA created the summary data report, "Provider Pay and the Pandemic: Realizing Recovery," to provide a holistic view of 2021 trends. While data revealed COVID-19 wasn't quite over at the end of the year, widespread vaccination of healthcare providers and staff have contributed to an increase in stability. The most recent MGMA Stat poll hints at a good sign for the rest of the year — currently reporting that a majority of practices are at or above 2021 visit volumes.

The summary data report also delves into the impact of burnout and staffing shortages on physicians' day-to-day. While COVID-19 has subsided, physician burnout and disruptive patients have not. An MGMA Stat poll revealed that 42% of healthcare leaders said their organization's top priority this year is operations and human resources.

As the healthcare industry continues to achieve a new "normal," practices are searching for ways to keep productivity and revenue high. Comprehensive data is key for practices as they look to understand how to consistently optimize daily operations.

To download a summary of the latest data, visit here.

About MGMA
Founded in 1926, the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) is the nation's largest association focused on the business of medical practice management. MGMA consists of 15,000 group medical practices ranging from small private medical practices to large national health systems representing more than 350,000 physicians. MGMA helps nearly 60,000 medical practice leaders and the healthcare community solve the business challenges of running practices so that they can focus on providing outstanding patient care. Specifically, MGMA helps its members innovate and improve profitability and financial sustainability, and it provides the gold standard on industry benchmarks such as physician compensation. The association also advocates extensively on its members' behalf on national regulatory and policy issues. To learn more, go to mgma.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.

CONTACT: Brad Krebs, 314-973-8090, press@mgma.org

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SOURCE Medical Group Management Association