Big spread in management income

Chief medical officers/ medical directors can get an idea of how well they are being compensated in relation to peers by looking at a recent survey conducted by William M. Mercer. Top earners can make as much as $457,000 per year in salary and other compensation. Those making "only" $188,000 per year may want to talk to somebody about a raise.

Related to organizational risk

Mercer compared total cash compensation in three types of organizations:

• High risk/low integration (typically, traditional managed care organizations)
• Low risk/high integration (emerging integrated delivery system) and
• High risk/high integration (integrated health networks).

Yet again, size matters

Of course, as is often the case, the size of a paycheck is often related to how big the company is.

SOURCE: WILLIAM M. MERCER, 2000 INTEGRATED HEALTH NETWORKS SURVEY