Employed physicians are generally paid a base salary and receive bonuses based on productivity — often measured by the number of relative value units physicians generate, the number of patients seen, net collections, and, on occasion, gross billing.
Gross billing is one way that hospitals can measure physician productivity and determine the amount of revenue they generate.
Here are the average starting salaries for 12 physician specialties and their average annual billing to commercial payers, according to a recent analysis published by AMN Healthcare.
Family Medicine
Starting salary: $251,000
Commercial payer billing: $1.4 million
Internal Medicine
Starting salary: $255,000
Commercial payer billing: $2.6 million
Pediatrics
Starting salary: $232,000
Commercial payer billing: $1.3 million
Cardiology (non-invasive)
Starting salary: $484,000
Commercial payer billing: $3.4 million
Orthopedic Surgery
Starting salary: $565,000
Commercial payer billing: $9.8 million
Psychiatry
Starting salary: $308,000
Commercial payer billing: $2.7 million
Gastroenterology
Starting salary: $486,00
Commercial payer billing: $5.5 million
Nurse Practitioner
Starting salary: $153,000
Commercial payer billing: $777,393
CRNA
Starting salary: $211,000
Commercial payer billing: $1.8 million
OB/GYN
Starting salary: $332,000
Commercial payer billing: $3.8 million
Pulmonology
Starting salary: $412,000
Commercial payer billing: $3.1 million
Radiology
Starting salary: $455,000
Commercial payer billing: $2 million