MANAGED CARE March 2011. ©MediMedia USA
The latest data on median gross charges, which are the charges, at undiscounted rates, of all services provided (also called productivity), indicate that primary care physician productivity is still increasing faster than compensation. Back in 2002, the opposite was true — compensation was growing slightly faster.
According to the “Physician Compensation and Production Survey” issued by the Medical Group Management Association, there was a 2.9 percent change in compensation and a 7.6 percent change in productivity for all primary care physicians from 2008 through 2009. For 2005 through 2009, MGMA reports a 13.9 percent change in compensation and a 22.5 percent change in productivity for all primary care doctors. All specialists, during the same period, report a 2.9 percent change in compensation and a slight dip in productivity — a change of –1.3 percent.
Source: Medical Group Management Association, Physician Compensation and Production Survey, 2010.