Physician Survey Shows that Salaries are Down

The 91st annual Medical Economics physician salary survey shows that physicians in five medical specialties earned less in 2019, than in 2018.The survey, which was conducted in February by Healthcare Research and Analytics (HRA), a health care market research group of MJH Life Sciences-the parent company of Rheumatology Network-received 1,055 responses from physicians in 17 medical specialties (29% were in family medicine and 20% in internal medicine). Cardiologists, who are typically among the highest earners in medicine, reported earning $24,000 less in 2019 than in 2018. In internal medicine, physicians reported earning $19,000 less than the previous year. And, OB/GYN specialists reported earning $10,000 less in 2019.Despite earning less, 23% of physicians reported that the financial health of their practice was about the same or slightly better in 2019 than in 2018 and 22% reported their practice is doing worse than the year before. The improved performance, physicians said, is due to an increased demand for services (patient visits were up by 52%); pay-for-performance incentives; and, changes in practice models.Physicians who reported declines in the financial health of their practice said the decline was due to lower reimbursements from commercial payers and lost time due to tasks.For more details on the results of the survey, visit our sister publication Medical Economics.