U.S. Cardiologists: Average Age Up and Income Down

October 5, 2018 |

3 min read

MedAxiom, the nation’s leading cardiovascular healthcare performance community and top CV-specific consulting firm, has released its sixth annual Cardiovascular Provider Compensation & Production Survey—a highly sought-after resource for healthcare decision-makers.

NEPTUNE BEACH, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- MedAxiom, the nation’s leading cardiovascular healthcare performance community and top CV-specific consulting firm, has released its sixth annual Cardiovascular Provider Compensation & Production Survey—a highly sought-after resource for healthcare decision-makers. This year’s survey reveals a number of significant findings including:

• Overall Cardiology compensation dropped for the first time since 2014

• The income gap between Private and Integrated groups widened in 2017

• Utilization of part-time Cardiologists continues to trend downward

• Nearly 1:4 Cardiologists is age 61+

Each year MedAxiom surveys its membership, more than one-third of all cardiology and cardiovascular groups in the country, on financial, staffing, productivity and compensation metrics, and a number of demographic measures. Data for the 2018 report was collected over the 2008-2017 time frame and includes 186 groups, representing 2,637 full-time physicians.

“This rich and robust peer data is reflective of the many changes taking place within healthcare,” said Joel Sauer, Vice President, MedAxiom Consulting, and author of the report. “It contains some surprising results as well as a continuation of important trends. All combine to give us a better understanding of what is actually happening and what we need to do to really advance cardiovascular healthcare.”

The 43-page report provides data and expert analysis on compensation and production trends by subspecialty, geographic region, ownership model and more. It looks at a variety of data points and factors including compensation per wRVU, key cardiology volumes and ratios, diagnostic testing trends, and the roles of advanced practice providers, part-time physicians as well as non-clinical roles.

"This report is quickly becoming the ‘Gold Standard’ compensation survey for cardiovascular healthcare groups,” said Frederic R. Simmons, Jr., CPA, Chief Executive Officer, Clearwater Cardiovascular Consultants, Clearwater, FL. “Not only is it a comprehensive report with strong participation of both integrated an independent groups, it offers insights on value, work RVU compensation and non-clinical compensation."

Survey highlights include:

Overall Cardiology compensation fell for the first time in three years to a median FTE of $559,568
Interventional physicians gained the top earnings spot from Electrophysiologists
Cardiologists in the South brought home over $120,000 more per FTE than those located in the Northeast
Overall work Relative Value Units (wRVU) remained flat while compensation per wRVU increased
Nearly 40% of all Cardiologists are age 56+ ; almost 25% are 61+
Cath volumes are flat; nuclear volumes continue to trend downward

In addition to the comprehensive data sections of the report, the 2018 MedAxiom Provider Compensation & Production Survey includes detailed analysis of the trends as well as an in-depth article on “What Patient Centric Care Really Means” by the survey’s author, Joel Sauer.

Click here to access MedAxiom’s 2018 Provider Compensation & Production Survey Report.

Joel Sauer will be presenting at the CV Transforum Fall’18 conference in Austin, TX, October 11-13. To speak with Joel about this report, contact Dana Carpenter at 904-885-0767 or dcarpenter@medaxiom.com.

ABOUT MEDAXIOM

Founded in 2001 by Jennifer Linville, CEO, MedAxiom is the nation’s leading cardiovascular performance community, providing expert consulting, networking and membership services including data analytics, program excellence tools and educational events to improve business and patient care outcomes. For additional information, visit: http://www.medaxiom.com/