Your providers' take-home paychecks from 2009 tell a mixed story, according to the MGMA's 2010 Physician Compensation and Production Survey, the group's annual tome of facts and figures on physician pay. Dermatologists and opthalmologists saw 12.2% and 7.7% pay boosts respectively, while OB/GYNs saw a 1.1% decrease and invasive cardiologists and hematology/oncology saw their paychecks flatline. Primary care doctors enjoyed a modest 2.8% increase.
Note that these figures reflect both Medicare and private payer data, and are based on changes in total median compensation, rather than the mean or average. In other words, they represent the center of the spectrum among the roughly 60,000 providers surveyed, according to the MGMA.
The group offers a few reasons for dermatology and ophthalmology's big gains; the former's is explained by their "ability to offer elective procedures not covered by insurance and collect the full fee at time of serve" while ophthalmologists are enjoying the profits of increasingly popular laser-refractive surgery, another non-covered service.
To get your own copy of the 2010 edition, you'll have to fork over $435 if you're an MGMA member, or $695 if you aren't.