Physician reimbursement is too low. Or so they say.

Apparently there is concern among physicians in northern New York that they don't get paid enough, at least according to an article in the Press Republican with the headline "Physician shortage tied to reimbursement rates."

So BrandweekNRX decided to investigate. Just how little are U.S. physicians paid?

The New York Times wrote on July 29, 2007, “Doctors in the United States earn two to three times as much as they do in other industrialized countries. Surveys by medical-practice management groups show that American doctors make an average of $200,000 to $300,000 a year. Primary care doctors and pediatricians make less, between $125,000 and $200,000, but in specialties like radiology, physicians can take home $400,000 or more. In Europe, however, doctors made $60,000 to $120,000 in 2002, according to a survey sponsored by the British government in 2004.”

But there is more, here is detailed data:

U.S. Physician Salaries - Ongoing Salary Survey

*Survey includes base salaries, net income or hospital guarantees minus expenses      June, 2003 - Present      <> SOURCE: Allied Physicians, Inc.,  Los Angeles Times and Rand McNally        *Updated  June, 2006 SPECIALTY Years 1-2 >3 Max Allergy/ Immunology $158,000 $221,000 $487,000 Ambulatory $  80,000 $112,000 $152,000 Anesthesiology: Pediatrics $ 283,000 $311,000 $378,000 Anesthesiology: General $207,000 $275,000 $448,000 Anesthesiology: Pain Management $315,000 $370,000 $651,000 Cardiology: Invasive $258,000 $395,000 $647,000 Cardiology: Interventional $290,000 $468,000 $811,000 Cardiology: Noninvasive $268,000 $403,000 $599,000 Critical Care $187,000 $215,000 $320,000 Dermatology $ 195,000 $308,000 $452,000 Emergency Medicine $192,000 $216,000 $295,000 Endocrinology $171,000 $187,000 $260,000 FP (with OB) $182,000 $204,000 $241,000 FP (w/o OB) $161,000 $135,000 $239,000 FP - Sports Medicine $ 152,000 $208,000 $363,000 FP - Urgent Care $ 128,000 $198,000 $299,000 Gastroenterology $265,000 $349,000 $590,000 Hematology/Oncology $181,348 $245,000 $685,000 Infectious Disease $154,000 $178,000 $271,000 Internal Medicine $154,000 $176,000 $238,000 IM (Hospitalist) $161,000 $172,000 $245,000 Medicine/Pediatrics $139,000 $168,000 $271,000 Medical Oncology $198,000 $257,000 $455,000 Neonatal Medicine $286,000 $310,000 $381,000 Nephrology $191,000 $269,000 $447,000 Neurology $180,000 $228,000 $345,000 Obstetrics/Gynecology $211,000 $261,000 $417,000 Gynecology $159,000 $213,000 $358,000 Maternal/Fetal Medicine $286,000 $322,000 $610,000 Occupational Medicine $139,000 $185,000 $290,000 Ophthalmology $138,000 $314,000 $511,000 Ophthalmology Retina $280,000 $469,000 $716,000 Orthopedic Surgery $256,000 $342,000 $670,000 ORS - Foot & Ankle $228,000 $392,000 $791,000 ORS - Hand & Upper Extremities $288,000 $459,000 $770,000 ORS - Hip & Joint Replacement $330,000 $491,000 $715,000 ORS - Spine Surgery $398,000 $670,000 $1,352,000 ORS - Sports Medicine $266,000 $479,000 $762,000 Otorhinolaryngology $194,000 $311,000 $516,000 Pathology $169,000 $321,000 $610,000 Pediatrics $135,000 $175,000 $271,000 Pediatrics - Cardiology $145,000 $282,000 $607,000 Pediatrics - Critical Care $196,000 $259,000 $398,000 Pediatrics - Hematology/Oncology    $182,000 $217,000 $251,000 Pediatrics - Neurology $175,000 $189,000 $362,000 Physiatry $169,000 $244,000 $313,000 Podiatry $128,000 $168,000 $292,000 Psychiatry $149,000 $169,000 $238,000 Psychiatry - Child and Adolescent $158,000 $189,000 $265,000 Pulmonary Medicine + Critical Care $215,000 $288,000 $417,000 Radiation Oncology $241,000 $385,000 $787,000 Radiology $201,000 $354,000 $911,000 Rheumatology $179,000 $229,000 $378,000 Surgery - General $226,000 $291,000 $520,000 Surgery - Cardiovascular $336,000 $515,000 $811,000 Surgery - Neurological $354,000 $541,000 $936,000 Surgery - Plastic $237,000 $412,000 $820,000 Surgery - Vascular $270,000 $329,000 $525,000 Urology $261,000 $358,000 $619,000

Too little, huh?

Comments

[Dazureus]

My wife is a third year general surgery resident. So far she's accumulated 4 years of college, 4 years of medical school, and 3 years of work in the hospital. Right now she's working at least 80 hours a week and brings home about $1,300 every two weeks. That's $8.13 an hour.
Even when she's making the "big bucks" after two more years (general surgery is at least a 5 year program) with 4 weeks vacation, by your chart, she'll be making $75.78 per hour. It doesn't seem like an outrageous amount to get paid when you consider this person gave up 13 years in higher learning and training, and works 2x the hours of the "normal" work week. Now her hospital administrators and CEOs in general are another quetsion....

[Dazureus]

Oh, and I forgot to mention that European Physicians, by law, are limited to work 40 hours a week. If your figure about their pay is correct, multiply it by 2 and you'll see an American equivalent pay.

[Wise]

The author of this article failed to mention how much debt doctors are int through the years of schooling they have to go through..

[Ravi]

They should make atleast twice that. Some idiot trained in SAP for 4 weeks is charging 150$/Hr to my project. Thats $300K.

Physicians deserve better than this.

[Zagreus Ammon]

It is interesting how we see value in health care only when we need it... kind of like insurance.

Since our facility has a two month wait for a new patient, I'm sure you'll appreciate few of us care if you think we make to much. The market has made a decision which will leave you relying on old school chums before you'll get any of the rest of us out of bed.

[Pharm Aid]

Doctors love to point to "their very expensive schooling" as the reason for the astronomical salaries.

In self-reported surveys by everybody under the sun (just Google it and you'll find dozens of surveys), doctors claim that their average debt after medical school is between $100,000 and $140,000. True?

When newly minted residents are applying for medical malpractice insurance, one of the questions relates to the amount of debt they have--including car payments, credit card debit and school loans (but excluding home mortgage--that's a separate question). Average? Just over $30k for a physician graduating today (that's less than most undergraduates have before they go on to careers as baristas at Starbucks).

The reason? In some programs where I have visited, it's not uncommon for me to speak with a group of interns/residents and the majority them have had their medical education either completely or partially subsidized by the state in which they live (Pennsylvania recently had a major battle over this exact issue). Couple that with private money and several of them even turned a profit for attending medical school.

It's time to drop the "doctor as victim" mentality.

[Zagreus Ammon]

Doctor as victim? Why the attack in the first place? We work hard, study long, and make a decent living, but nowhere near what athletes, actors and some pharmaceutical executives.

Live and let live, then there'll be no victims.

OTOH you can't have it both ways: "I can't find a good doctor" and "doctors make too much" are contradictory statements in open markets.

[Mark]

Between the cost of servicing medical school loans which, when capitalized during school and residency training probably total about $93,000 for Federal loans and $125,000 for private loans, plus the opportunity cost of on average 8 years of lost wages for school and residency (say $396,000 since hey, if you get into medical school you probably can do better than a job as a Barista) and you get a reasonable estimate of $615,000 as the cost of creating a physician in the United States. The high salarys are necessary to service this cost, to the tune of about $69,000 per year. In other words, to be a neutral decision, a physician should make that much more after completing their education than they would have had they foregone medical school. Which, it seems they do, so from a net present value perspective, it still makes economic sense to become a doctor.

[neurosurgeon in training]

Seriously, if you think we're paid too much, do it yourself. Or tell yourself anyone who is "lucky enough" to get into medschool. Find someone from India or educated in the Caribbean. 99.99% of people could never do what I do, while maintaining professional, courteous, sympathetic, and medication free. Can you memorize a new dictionary every month for 11 years? Or is memorizing not a big deal b/c you can just "google" it intraoperatively? Who among you can stand 20 hours straight while contemplating whether to leave in 20% of that tumor because that artery looks too friable to debulk around? Don't flinch or he's blind. Can't eat or his brain will infarct while you're chowing down. Can't move or grandma will be a hemiplegic gimp. This guy's forehead skin flap will necrose, he may die from a PE, and I get 80 dollars a day for this?

You do it. Or your flawed whiny children who need a pat on the back just to bring a B+. You talk about training 60 hours a week when I think 80hours a week is far too little to learn what I need to, and 15 years is too long to remember what was important in the first place.

You don't want genius, perfection driven, machine-like, strong, ethical surgeon as the man cutting through 2cm of cranium 2mm from your eloquent area? Want some foreigner who is in it for the money? He could do six of these day, when I do one.

Do it yourself. Or let someone else do it, and good luck with that. I can make 3 million a year in business with what I know and what I can do. My photographic memory can do more then recreate your aneurysm for a contralateral approach that no coil will ever reach.

Good luck with that.

[Dr Norman Blumenthal]

Should Gynecology be the subject of only female Doctors?

[tumor cells]

Reimbursement is what your insurance company pays your physician for services provided. What happens to your physician affects not only him or her, but you and me as patients. It affects the services they offer, our access to quality physicians, the time they spend with us, their stress and satisfaction levels which impacts quality of care and patient safety, and more.