How much does an attending actually earn?

[watermen]

Ok, I know someone is going to say there are a lot of online source to know the answer to this. And yeah..i check those sources b4 asking.

My question is how much does a surgeon actually get to take home after tax, after all those malpractise insurance, money needed to maintain your practise or what ever it is...anyway..what is the real amount of money an attending actually get to take home.

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[PediBoneDoc]

income varies by location, specialty, and practice. since this is a surgical forum, i will assume surgeon salary. i will use general surgery as a base. i am guessing that it would be between $150-400,000.

as far as overhead, usually it is about 40-60% of you collections.

now let me explain overhead a little. you submit a bill. (billing) the payor will pay (collections). good collection rate is about 60-70% of billing. (can be as high as 90% for say workman's comp and as low as medicaid <20%).

from you collections, your overhead is taken first. this includes malpractice, office supplies, office staff, office space, etc. then you get your take. the nicer office and more office staff, the higher the overhead.

now this is very simplified and varies based on the employment type (solo, multispecialty, single specialty, HMO, Hospital employee).

so, in the end, the more RVU's you generate the more money will be on your bottom line.

 

[watermen]

income varies by location, specialty, and practice. since this is a surgical forum, i will assume surgeon salary. i will use general surgery as a base. i am guessing that it would be between $150-400,000.

as far as overhead, usually it is about 40-60% of you collections.

now let me explain overhead a little. you submit a bill. (billing) the payor will pay (collections). good collection rate is about 60-70% of billing. (can be as high as 90% for say workman's comp and as low as medicaid <20%).

from you collections, your overhead is taken first. this includes malpractice, office supplies, office staff, office space, etc. then you get your take. the nicer office and more office staff, the higher the overhead.

now this is very simplified and varies based on the employment type (solo, multispecialty, single specialty, HMO, Hospital employee).

so, in the end, the more RVU's you generate the more money will be on your bottom line.

Can I say that those internet source of how much a surgeon earn is what they actually get to take home?

 

[Pilot Doc]

Can I say that those internet source of how much a surgeon earn is what they actually get to take home?

No - none of the salary figues you see quoted are take home pay. As a rule, 99% of the salary figures are after

-- office overhead
-- malpractice
-- health, disability and retirement contributions

That having been said, most surgeons run small businesses and they make what is left over after paying all the bills, so all those items directly affect your bottom line.

What is not included in the salary figures are
Social Security (about 12% of the amount up to around 100K if you're an independent contractor, 6% if you're employed)
Medicare (about 3% of total salary for IC's, 1.5% for employees)
Federal, State and local taxes

Your actual take home will depend heavily on where you live, your family (particularly your spouse's income), and the deductions you can take. If you want an actual take home number, both Quicken.com and the H&R block site have tax calculators that will give you reasonable numers.

 

[drgeeforce]

If you're unsure about your salary bid, try MGMA. Assuming you're just out of residency, I'd ask for AGPA or PEMC.
Here's a link to a 2001 chart on salaries:
http://www.physicianssearch.com/physician/salary.html
Another from 2004:
http://www.merritthawkins.com/pdf/2004_modern_healthcare_comp_review.pdf

 

[mmu]

how about salary.com?
their numbers are much better.
Do they represent the reality?

 

[Winged Scapula]

how about salary.com?
their numbers are much better.
Do they represent the reality?

depends on the area, but many employers will tell you right out that they use the MGMA data for their salaries. I found salary.com to be a little high to what's really being offered.