Increases in median total cash compensation for physicians were lower in 2014 than 2013, according to the 2014 Physician Compensation and Productivity Survey from Sullivan, Cotter and Associates.
The SullivanCotter survey contains data from 517 organizations covering more than 98,000 health care providers and 240 specialties and positions.
Survey respondents reported a median total cash compensation increases of 4.9 percent for primary care physicians, down from a 5.7 percent increase in 2013.
Survey findings also indicated an increase in the employment of physicians, a rise in the use of advanced practice clinicians and a greater prevalence of quality metrics being used for compensation incentives for physicians in 2014.
Additional highlights from the survey include the following.
- Specialty physicians saw a compensation increase of 1.9 percent in 2014, down from a 3.2 percent increase last year.
- Surgical specialty physicians experienced an increase of 2.5 percent in 2014 compared to 2.3 percent last year.
- A majority of survey respondents, 68 percent, indicated they increased their employed physician and advanced practice clinicians population in 2014.
- Roughly 66 percent of participants plan on increasing the number of employed physicians and advanced practice clinicians within the next year.
- As the healthcare market shifts to value-based care, 39 percent of respondents reported using quality metrics as part of physician incentive compensation, up from 32 percent in 2013.
- Overall, quality incentives make up approximately 5 percent of physician total cash compensation, consistent with survey results from 2013.