MGMA Report Reveals Limited Physician Compensation Gains Amid Staffing Shortages, Inflation

Healthcare leaders must prioritize recruitment and retention to stay competitive in an evolving economic landscape

Englewood, Colo., May 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- New research from the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) reveals that recent economic and staffing challenges are limiting productivity among healthcare providers while inflation rates are eclipsing compensation growth. The 2023 edition of MGMA DataDive Provider Compensation is based on 2022 data encompassing nearly 190,000 providers from over 6,800 organizations.

As medical groups, hospitals, and health systems face unrelenting financial pressure due to rising expenses and a tight labor market, MGMA's industry-leading data provides crucial benchmarks that equip leaders with the insights to build effective compensation models to recruit and retain clinicians.

The 2023 DataDive Provider Compensation includes new specialties, filters, and data categories including the effect of shift differentials on physician compensation.

Key Report Highlights

Provider compensation increased across the board, with primary care physicians (PCPs) receiving the biggest increase of 4.41% over the last year. However, the Consumer Price Index rose 6.5% from December 2021 to December 2022, far exceeding most gains in provider compensation measured in MGMA's data set. Although growth in median total compensation for PCPs doubled from 2021 (2.13%) to 2022 (4.41%), it couldn't overtake inflation at 7% and 6.5%, respectively.

Compensation growth also varied across specialties over the past three years, from a 0.13% rise in Urgent Care physician compensation to a 10.57% increase for Family Medicine (without obstetrics) physicians. APP compensation experienced a moderate uptick within the last year, ranging from 4.08% to 9.22% depending on the specialty.

"While provider compensation is trending upward, unpredictable economic conditions continue to hamper salary growth and productivity," said Halee Fischer-Wright, MD, MMM, FAAP, FACMPE, president and chief executive officer at MGMA. "Healthcare leaders must develop proactive plans and strategically budget for recruiting and retaining the future of their workforce – and this data will help them connect the dots as competition for talent escalates in the face of inflation."

Staffing's Impact on Productivity

For a deeper analysis behind the data, MGMA developed Benchmarking for the Future of Your Physician and APP Workforce which provides further data insights and offers solutions for ongoing industry difficulties.

Staffing has been the biggest challenge for medical groups over the past two years, impeding progress in productivity and compensation. In an April 2023 MGMA Stat poll, medical leaders ranked staffing as the top roadblock to higher productivity.

Productivity is a challenge across the industry, but physician-owned practices report higher levels of productivity in collections, total encounters, and work Relative Value Units (RVUs) compared to their counterparts at hospital-owned practices. The difference in total collections ranges from $96,580 to $172,221 between PCPs, surgical and non-surgical specialists, and APPs.

Recruitment and Retention Strategies

Practices are shaking up the status quo for staffing models and finding innovative solutions to address a difficult labor market, such as embracing the APP's role in healthcare practices. Additionally, medical groups are leveraging flexible or part-time physician roles, as well as contract and locum tenens work.

The 2023 MGMA DataDive Provider Compensation data highlights the new normal in the competitive arena of provider recruitment, as 45.91% of physicians and 17.85% of APPs were offered a signing bonus as part of the contract offer or negotiation.

With key insights to help healthcare leaders and physicians navigate the current environment, the report illustrates the importance of implementing a physician retention strategy and ensuring leaders regularly communicate with staff around the topic, as well as specific do's and don'ts for recruitment and retention programs.

To download the report, visit here.

About MGMA

Founded in 1926, the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) is the nation's largest association focused on the business of medical practice management. MGMA consists of 15,000 group medical practices ranging from small private medical practices to large national health systems representing more than 350,000 physicians. MGMA helps nearly 60,000 medical practice leaders and the healthcare community solve the business challenges of running practices so that they can focus on providing outstanding patient care. Specifically, MGMA helps its members innovate and improve profitability and financial sustainability, and it provides the gold standard on industry benchmarks such as physician compensation. The association also advocates extensively on its members' behalf on national regulatory and policy issues. To learn more, go to MGMA.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

CONTACT:
Brad Krebs
[email protected]

SOURCE Medical Group Management Association