HCPro.com: Physician Compensation & Recruitment

April 2008 (Volume 9, Issue 4)	view entire issue

Scrutinize FMV in a performance-based environment
As the healthcare industry continues to embrace performance-based business models, providers are entering into new financial relationships that, though often successful in improving care and reducing costs, may trigger legal violations if not carefully planned. Pay-for-performance programs, gainsharing arrangements, joint ventures, comanagement agreements, and a whole host of other models that tie financial payments to measurable results are spreading throughout the industry, but in some cases the legal framework has not caught up to the industrywide shift.

Physicians' reasons for relocating: 1987 and today
In 1987, a gallon of gasoline was less than $1, telephone calls were made over landlines, and when the average physician made a decision to relocate it was based on long-term goals of building a practice near quality hospital facilities in order to develop high earning potential down the road. A lot has changed in 20 years, including physicians' attitudes about medicine and their motivations for relocating, suggests a survey conducted by recruiting firm Jackson & Coker that compared physicians' reasons for relocating to a new practice or hospital in 2007 with the results from a similar survey from 20 years earlier.

Tension with hospitals doesn't slow radiology comp climb
Despite turfs wars, manpower shortages, and recent reimbursement, radiology has been and continues to be one of the top-paying medical specialties. The AMGA 2007 Medical Group Compensation and Financial Survey lists median compensation at $440,004 for interventional radiologists and $414,875 for noninterventional radiologists. Although most industry compensation surveys are based on the previous year's data and have not yet measured the effect of the 2007 Deficit Reduction Act (DRA), which cuts $2.8 million from Medicare reimbursement for imaging over five years, physicians shouldn't expect a significant drop in compensation in the near future.

Merge recruitment, retention efforts to keep top physicians
Many of the same market forces that have made recruitment more difficult and a higher priority recently-physician shortages, demographic changes, generational attitude differences, etc.-have also increased many facilities' focus on physician retention. In fact, recruitment and retention are inextricably tied together, said Kevin Donovan, FACHE, FACMPE, vice president of physician and ambulatory services at Elliot Health System in Manchester, NH, and Brian McCartie, regional vice president with national recruitment firm Cejka Search. The two discussed the topic February 12 during "Retention Strategies to Keep Top Physicians," a HealthLeaders Media audioconference.

Other recently-published articles from Physician Compensation & Recruitment:

OIG, CMS promise increased scrutiny. Are you prepared yet?

Low reimbursement depresses compensation

Experts: Economic woes, physician demand, wRVUs to figure prominently in 2009

In debt, heavily recruited, and aware of their value, residents are making their career decisions earlier

High demand, increased procedures drive compensation

Hospitals turn to employment model as on-call solution

Low compensation continues to create challenges

On-call pay trends begin to stabilize, survey finds

Recruiters seek efficiency in ailing economy, tight market

Low comp creates geriatrician shortage as population ages

Primary care reports bigger compensation increases than normal as specialists struggle to keep pace with inflation

IPPS, fee schedule contain new Stark changes

’Float pool’ offers alternative to locum tenens

Choose the right on-call comp model for your hospital

IMG physicians can ease looming shortage

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