Opinion: Anomalies shed light on doctors’ compensation
Figure this: The median income for a non-metro-area anesthesiologist is $25,000 higher for one in a metro area.
The term “physician compensation” could be among the top phrases in health care this year.
Though it’s always been a hot topic, it got hotter when the Trump administration announced a proposal that would affect nearly 40 percent of Medicare payments. That plan would have replaced a fee scale that compensated doctors more for seeing sicker patients with a flat-fee model that reimburses them at the same or similar rates regardless of the condition being treated or complexity of the visit.
In various spheres of health care, from private equity investors pricing out purchases of physician practices to specialists negotiating salaries or recruiters seeking to draw the best talent to their practices, compensation is often a big lever to pull.
