Medical Economics® Releases 91st Annual Physician Report

“Year after year, Medical Economics® takes the pulse of physicians across specialties to provide unparalleled insight into the triumphs and tribulations faced by medical professionals nationwide,” said Mike Hennessy Jr., president and CEO of MJH Life Sciences™. “According to this year’s report, relatively stagnant salaries, a persistent gender pay gap and increasingly busy schedules were among the top challenges that strained the industry.”

Survey results revealed that majority of physicians saw their practice’s financial state improve or stay the same in 2019. Although 55% of participants noted that their practice did about the same as the year before, 23% disclosed that their practice did better financially in 2019. Just 22% of respondents felt that their practice did worse than the prior year.

Overall, the survey results indicate that participants credit their improved financial performance to seeing more patients (52%), pay-for-performance incentives (29%) and changes in their practice models (26%). Respondents who considered their practices worse off cited reasons such as more time spent on uncompensated tasks (67%), lower reimbursements from commercial payers (66%) and higher overhead (60%) as their fiscal downfalls.

Although the estimated 2019 total income for the typical physician respondent was $273,000, salary figures exposed by the report also indicate that a gender pay gap remains prevalent. Whereas male physicians received an average of $300,000, female physicians earned significantly less, with an average of $226,000. Physician incomes also varied depending on specialty, with the top field being cardiology, followed by urology.

“The 91st Annual Physician Report provides an interesting snapshot in time, revealing the challenges physicians were facing before the world came under the grips of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Chris Mazzolini, Medical Economics® editorial director. “To better provide our audience with strategies for mitigating the challenges presented by the crisis, our exclusive report will prove to be an invaluable resource as we begin to track the impact of the pandemic on physician finances and productivity.”

The 91st Annual Physician Report was conducted by HRA® (Healthcare Research & Analytics), a full-service health care market research agency and a brand of MJH Life Sciences™. Data was collected in February 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic began to affect the financial state of practices. This survey was conducted with a margin of error plus/minus 3% at 95% confidence.

For a comprehensive breakdown of results from the 91st Annual Physician Report, click here.

About Medical Economics®

Medical Economics® is a multimedia platform that provides physicians with expert advice, shared experiences, tools and resources to succeed in today’s practice environment. As the highest-ranked practice management publication in the market, Medical Economics® covers topics including primary care, the business of medicine, health information technology and more. Medical Economics® is a brand of MJH Life Sciences™, the largest privately held, independent, full-service medical media company in North America dedicated to delivering trusted health care news across multiple channels.

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