We all function on our own independent profit and loss sheet. It's 100% eat what you kill. You can make as much or as little as you want, based on your billing and production. I've never picked up on any resentment regarding salary, because there's not really any "salary," per se, and instead each keeps what he generates. Overhead is taken out of that revenues steam, but the formula is the same for everyone. You buy a vial of saline, it comes off the top of your revenue. You bill a patient, it goes to your pay stream and no one else's. I do a kypho, I get all the $ from it, they get none. But they also don't have to pay a penny for my GE 9900 fluoro; I'll pay every cent of that. I do definitely make more than them, but I think they're mostly just happy that my presence means they have less opiate Rx's to prescribe.
Some of them that have expected me to take over opiobenzosomaaadderal zombies don't refer to me anymore. The ones that are good docs and have real patients to send me, do refer the good patients to me and send the train-wrecks out of the practice. When I decided to demand all opiate patients taper off benzos, most of whom got their benzos from the PCPs (none from me) there was some grumbling as we weaned people, but surprisingly little, and in the end, they seem happier that we've lowered the risk profile and painfulness of our mutual patient population. As far as call goes, the PCPs couldn't care less if I take call or not, because they don't really take call either. They all have hospitalists do their admits. It's a pretty sweet set up, for all involved. In the end, I'm sure we probably don't make as much money as some groups, but the lifestyle setup is very good and sustainable.
Also, a plus is that PCPs tend to be easier to work with than surgeons and they view what you say with more weight since they consider you a "specialist" with more knowledge than them in your area. That's as opposed to surgeons, who generally want you to do what they want you to do, when they want you to do it and always think they know best about everything. The downside is that the average PCP's patient stream has a lower % of patients needing a Pain MD, than your average neurosurgeon or ortho spine doc. So, I'll never be the guy with a line of patients out the door; I have busy times and slow periods, and I'm okay with that. But I'm not starving, and the upsides make it more than worth it.