Primary care clinician productivity also leads other specialties, survey finds.
Primary care clinician compensation increased 6.1% from 2021 to 2022, compared to a 1.5% increase for medical specialties and 1.6% increase for surgical specialties, according to a new AMGA survey.
The 36th edition of the AMGA's Medical Group Compensation and Productivity Survey features data collected from 446 medical groups that employ more than 193,000 clinicians.
In addition to leading other specialties in compensation growth, the survey found primary care had more significant growth in work relative value units (wRVUs) than other specialties. Primary care physician wRVUs increased 4.0%, compared to a 1.7% increase for medical specialties and a 1.4% increase for surgical specialties.
In part, the trends are related to changes made by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as well as wRVU changes, AMGA Consulting Director Elizabeth Siemsen said in a prepared statement.
"We're seeing that the compensation levels for primary care have increased this past year, greater than in other specialty types, which in our opinion, is evidence that the E/M coding changes that CMS put into effect in 2021 are now being reflected in organizations' compensation plans. Survey results indicate that the gains for primary care are evident as the smoke clears from the slow transition to the utilization of new wRVU weights for compensation calculation and the volume swings of the pandemic," she said.
The survey found medical group median net collections outstripped clinician compensation growth. Overall median net collections increased 5.2%. The survey shows revenue gains are not being applied directly to physician compensation, AMGA Consulting President Fred Horton said in a prepared statement.
"Rather, groups are using that revenue to address non-provider expense increases. A lower compensation-to-collections ratio suggests that a higher percentage of revenue is going to cover all the expenses that have seen an increase in the past few years. These include staff expense, supply expense, and the like. Basically, we see that this data reflects that organizations are focusing on the management of the changing financial demands for medical group operations," he said.
Related: MGMA Gauges Trends in Clinician Compensation and Productivity
Christopher Cheney is the CMO editor at HealthLeaders.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
A new AMGA survey on medical group compensation and productivity features data collected from 446 medical groups that employ more than 193,000 clinicians.
Primary care physician wRVUs increased 4.0%, compared to a 1.7% increase for medical specialties and a 1.4% increase for surgical specialties.
The survey found medical group median net collections outstripped clinician compensation growth. Overall median net collections increased 5.2%.