Career and Life Planning Guidebook for Medical Residents

“First, I analyze the most recent physician com- pensation surveys. Based on our specific market—a mid-size community of 150,000 located 90 minutes fromChicago- we start with the median salary reported for that specialty. Next, my team and I analyze the production of our physicians and adjust the compensation up or down based on the median production of our existing physicians. Finally, we evaluate the supply and demand of the specialty. For specialties that are in high demand (with more positions than candidates, such as psychiatry) we adjust the compensation up. For specialties like sports medicine with a surplus of candidates to available jobs, we adjust the compensation down accordingly.” Provider Compensation Surveys Employers leverage one or more physician compensation survey reports to help determine starting salaries for new physicians. The most- frequently used physician compensation production reports used are: American Medical Group Association (AMGA) Sullivan Cotter and Associates Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) Several employers use physician compensation survey data that includes TOTAL CASH COMPENSATION which includes salary, signing bonus, loan repayment, residency stipend, per- formance bonuses, production incentives, and any other income considered taxable. When negotiating a salary, it’s important to know what data is being used to determine your salary. The most popular physician surveys break up the data into the 15 th percentile, 25 th percentile, median, 60 th percentile, 75 th percentile and the 90 th percentile. Data Application: As discussed in the Physician Compensation chapter, employers will leverage physician compensation survey data based on their geographic region, demographic classification, type of practice, and employer circumstances to determine the starting compensation for each specialty. For example, the chart below is a general guideline on how employers of different demographic classifications located in the Midwest Region, may interpret the data: Demographic Classification Population Examples Employers interpretation of starting compensation based on community size Metropolitan More than 1,000,000 Chicago 10th to 25th percentile Midsize cities / Suburbs or metro areas 250,001 to 1,000,000 Indianapolis, IN, Chicago Suburbs 25th percentile to median Medium Sized 50,001 to 250,000 Rockford, Illinois, Peoria, Illinois Median Rural to Small community Less than 50,000 Located 2 to 5 hours away from a metropolitan area Median to 75th percentile The Art of Physician Negotiation 297 WWW.PHYSICIANCAREERPLANNING.COM