New Surgeon Compensation Data is Here: Numbers You Need to Know

You’ve heard the expression, “You’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.” This applies to some things in life — but not to physician compensation models. At an MGMA Annual Meeting, a speaker once said to a crowded room, “If you’ve seen one Physician Compensation Plan, you’ve seen one Physician Compensation Plan.” It was an astute observation, and the entire room laughed knowingly.

While there are best practices for establishing physician compensation plans to ensure Total Provider Compensation meets Fair Market Value and is Commercially Reasonable, hospitals, academic centers, and private practices each have different “road maps” based on their wide range of demographics, established compensation policies and procedures, methodologies, payor mix, budgets, and so on. These physician compensation models can significantly impact a physician’s income.

So, what does this mean for surgeons who are comparing provider compensation plans, reviewing their contract, or negotiating their compensation? It’s a complex and challenging process…unless you have the access and industry-specific training to utilize national physician compensation data. Think of compensation data as gold, a precious commodity. While Physician Compensation Plans may differ widely, the common denominator, and the cornerstone of all physician compensation, is data. If data is gold, those who have the gold make the rules, or in this case, the physician compensation plan(s).

For those of us who love compensation data (yes, we’re a rare breed), it’s always exciting when the annual MGMA compensation data is released. The 2022 MGMA DataDive Provider Compensation (based on the 2021 data) is now available based on the response of over 192,000 providers — and it’s robust data. 2020 data was widely considered an outlier due to disruptions caused by COVID-19, so most provider compensation professionals agreed the best practice in 2021 was to rely on 2019 Data for surgeon contract reviews.

The release of the 2021 Provider Compensation Data gives us a solid foundation to establish current total compensation and benchmarks and provides compelling 3-year trending data, indicating that general surgery and surgical specialty compensation has increased across the board.
What do these stats mean for you? Read on for a few eye-opening numbers you should know:

General Surgery

In 3 years, Median Total Compensation for General Surgeons increased from $429,577 (2018) to $454,645 (2021) a $25,068 increase
Median Total Compensation for General Surgeons increased by $13,886 per year from 2019 to 2021
In 2021 General Surgeons paid at the Median earned $81,000 more than General Surgeons paid at the 25 percentile

Source: 2022 MGMADataDive Provider Compensation, Used with permission from MGMA. Copyright 2021. mgma.com/data

Plastic & Reconstruction Surgery

Median Total Compensation increased by $52,470 per year from 2019 to 2021
In 3 years, Median Total Compensation increased from $518,882 (2018) to $587,775 (2021) a $68,893 increase
In 2021, Plastic Surgeons paid at the Median earned $115,283 more than those paid at the 25 percentile
In 2021, Plastic Surgeons paid at the 75 percentile earned $190,170 more than those paid at the Median

Source: 2022 MGMADataDive Provider Compensation, Used with permission from MGMA. Copyright 2021. mgma.com/data

Thoracic Surgery

In 2021 Thoracic Surgeons paid at the Median earned $164,841 more than those paid at the 25 percentile
Thoracic Surgeons paid at the 75 percentile earned $196,128 more than those paid at the Median
Total Median Compensation for Thoracic Surgeons increased $83,820 from 2019 to 2021
Over 3 years, Total Median Compensation for Thoracic Surgeons increased from $615,737 (2018) to $666,110 (2021) a $50,373 increase

Source: 2022 MGMADataDive Provider Compensation, Used with permission from MGMA. Copyright 2021. mgma.com/data

Vascular Surgery

In 2021, Vascular Surgeons paid at the Median earned $103,448 more than those paid at the
25 percentile
Vascular Surgeons paid at the 75 percentile earned $128,511 more than those paid at the Median
Total Median Compensation for Vascular Surgeons increased $26,288 from 2019 to 2021

Source: 2022 MGMADataDive Provider Compensation, Used with permission from MGMA. Copyright 2021. mgma.com/data

Don’t see your surgical specialty? Contact me, and we’ll review your surgical specialty and the latest national compensation data. Knowledge is Power. Know Your Value!

Now is a great time to review your current contract, negotiate your upcoming surgeon contract renewal, and compare multiple employment offers. I’m a firm believer in the power of data and analytics to help surgeons negotiate for the compensation they deserve. Are you getting the most out of a new or existing contract? At SCC, we’re here to help you review your compensation, level the playing field, and negotiate your value.