First-year salaries up for primary care, specialty physicians

Primary care physicians reported $186,475 in median first-year guaranteed compensation when placed in a new practice, compared to $260,000 for specialists, an increase in first-year median guaranteed compensation for both groups of clinicians.

The findings come from the Medical Group Management Association's “Physician Placement Starting Salary Survey: 2014 Report Based on 2013 Data,” which also found that 60% of physicians placed in a new practice reported receiving signing bonuses and 72% accepted paid relocation packages as part of their employment offers, increases from years past.

The Lower Midwest, the Southeast, and the Eastern Midwest regions reported having placed the most clinicians in jobs (17.34%, 16.97%, and 16.53%, respectively); however, 2 of these regions, the Eastern Midwest and the Southeast, also reported the highest percentages of physicians who relocated to other regions (16.98% and 15.86%, respectively). The North Atlantic had the third highest “relocated from” percentage, at 15.25%.

Physicians in the Southern geographic section report the highest first-year guaranteed compensation for both primary care and specialty care ($200,000 and $274,000, respectively). Specialty care physicians reported the lowest starting salary in the Midwest section at $246,048, whereas physicians in the Western section reported the lowest starting salary for primary care physicians ($180,000).

First-year guaranteed compensation for primary care physicians was $185,000 in physician-owned businesses, $192,554 from hospital- or integrated delivery service (IDS)-owned employers, and $160,000 in other employment models. Among subspecialists, the rates were $275,000 for physician-owned, $300,000 for hospital- or IDS-owned models, and $200,000 for other models.

When first-year physicians hired out of residency were compared to established physicians, primary care physicians reported similar starting salaries, with established physicians reporting only a 5.6% higher compensation. Specialty care physicians reported a much larger gap in compensation with established physicians: 31.2% higher median starting salary than new physicians.

The survey contained data on 5,318 clinicians in 567 medical organizations. All information was voluntarily provided.