Cardiology Salary?

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TAVR4life said:
what type of jobs have you been encountering this year with those salaries? Employed positions at hospital or private practice?
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When is a good time to start looking for jobs? 1 year prior to graduation?
 
Following up on this question, what is the salary and job market like for the pediatric equivalent of the cardiology sub-specialties? It seems like pediatric EP has more interesting cases than adult but both the job market and salary seems way worse for peds in general.
 
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Heart of the Cards said:
Following up on this question, what is the salary and job market like for the pediatric equivalent of the cardiology sub-specialties? It seems like pediatric EP has more interesting cases than adult but both the job market and salary seems way worse for peds in general.
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Mean median 375/353
 
Does anyone have specific information about pay for non-invasive/advanced imaging jobs in Boston/Boston suburbs. The pay for academic centers in the region is known to be way lower than the national average, but how low are we talking? How about smaller community hospitals affiliated with academic institutions or hospital-employed positions?
 
anonymous0439 said:
Does anyone have specific information about pay for non-invasive/advanced imaging jobs in Boston/Boston suburbs. The pay for academic centers in the region is known to be way lower than the national average, but how low are we talking? How about smaller community hospitals affiliated with academic institutions or hospital-employed positions?
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New EP/IC attending in one of the Harvard hospitals start in the 180-200 range
 
Numbers vary a lot on location and type of practice. My co-fellow and I compared our list of places and found that most private groups offered in the mid-upper 300's to mid 400's with bonus pay and partnership track in about 3 years. Hospital employed was more regional in the pay. California and Hawaii offered mid 400's starting with little room for increasing that salary. Rural areas were much better paying with up to 760k/year starting (I almost signed one such contract but the call was Q2 and I thought I might die plus school options for my kids were quite poor). Most hospital employed positions started in the upper 5's or low 6's in the PNW. I eventually chose to go with an employed position offering low 600's with a 10-15% group based production bonus plan after the first year, an automatic 10% raise after the second year, and guaranteed salary for 3 years with option to go to production after first year at anytime per my desire along with typical medical and 401k options. I made sure to get a contract lawyer to review my offers and was so glad I did. The place I chose had the best balance in terms of flexibility, procedures, pay, and lifestyle/education options for my kids.

Look at MGMA data for your region of interest and specialty and likely you will find jobs offering salaries in that range. Most residency programs will have this available to you. As a new grad expect to start in the 25-50th percentile of pay for your region.
 
Bump.

Any comment on the job market for IC in the DFW area? Would it be worth it to move to the Tyler/Longview area?
 
BMW M5 said:
Bump.

Any comment on the job market for IC in the DFW area? Would it be worth it to move to the Tyler/Longview area?
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Long time lurker here. Started a new IC position in DFW. I absolutely love it. Great work life balance. Pay isn’t that great, mine started at 410 base with option to move to RVU (67 per) after 1-1.5 years. 15k signing bonus.
What makes it amazing is that i have amazing partners who have my back. So I would say yes money is important but what’ll make it or break it is who you get to work with everyday. Can you run things by them at 1-2am if you get into trouble, can you see yourself hanging out with them on your off weekends, do they have the same values as yourself when it comes to family/etc.
I was lucky enough to find that work environment with being in a metropolitan city and having good school system for my kids. Salary isn’t as high as some of my cofellows (one got 650k to start in Midwest) but it’s all about priority.
I can see myself working here and building my practice and salary up vs I won’t be able to last in mid-west even if my starting salary was 200k higher.
Feel free to PM me for any more questions
 
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Eden-Dar)le4 said:
Long time lurker here. Started a new IC position in DFW. I absolutely love it. Great work life balance. Pay isn’t that great, mine started at 410 base with option to move to RVU (67 per) after 1-1.5 years. 15k signing bonus.
What makes it amazing is that i have amazing partners who have my back. So I would say yes money is important but what’ll make it or break it is who you get to work with everyday. Can you run things by them at 1-2am if you get into trouble, can you see yourself hanging out with them on your off weekends, do they have the same values as yourself when it comes to family/etc.
I was lucky enough to find that work environment with being in a metropolitan city and having good school system for my kids. Salary isn’t as high as some of my cofellows (one got 650k to start in Midwest) but it’s all about priority.
I can see myself working here and building my practice and salary up vs I won’t be able to last in mid-west even if my starting salary was 200k higher.
Feel free to PM me for any more questions
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An OK starting salary but the wRVU rate is pretty good. I was under the impression that the wRVU rate would be lower for larger cities like DFW. Congratulations!
 
Anyone working in the Pacific Northwest? How is it out there in terms of salary and living? Any reply would be greatly appreciated, I’ve never visited that region.
 
Eden-Dar)le4 said:
Long time lurker here. Started a new IC position in DFW. I absolutely love it. Great work life balance. Pay isn’t that great, mine started at 410 base with option to move to RVU (67 per) after 1-1.5 years. 15k signing bonus.
What makes it amazing is that i have amazing partners who have my back. So I would say yes money is important but what’ll make it or break it is who you get to work with everyday. Can you run things by them at 1-2am if you get into trouble, can you see yourself hanging out with them on your off weekends, do they have the same values as yourself when it comes to family/etc.
I was lucky enough to find that work environment with being in a metropolitan city and having good school system for my kids. Salary isn’t as high as some of my cofellows (one got 650k to start in Midwest) but it’s all about priority.
I can see myself working here and building my practice and salary up vs I won’t be able to last in mid-west even if my starting salary was 200k higher.
Feel free to PM me for any more questions
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WRVU rate is really good for metro city. Do you mind sharing what is the target RVU # you need to hit to get more than your base salary?

Generally, is target RVU based on median RVU for the region based on MGMA data?

Is 10k RVU target for non-invasive cardiologist even imaginable?
 
10k rvu isn't terribly difficult, especially with the new outpatient rvus. The bulk of rvus can come from clinic and then echo. But the non-rvu producing parts of the job are important too. 2 people producing same rvu could have very different lifestyles and "busy-ness." A job paying $50k more but 50% busier isn't a good deal.
 
cards67 said:
10k rvu isn't terribly difficult, especially with the new outpatient rvus. The bulk of rvus can come from clinic and then echo. But the non-rvu producing parts of the job are important too. 2 people producing same rvu could have very different lifestyles and "busy-ness." A job paying $50k more but 50% busier isn't a good deal.
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What are the non-RVU producing part of the job in non-invasive cardiologist is day today work?
 
Messages, phone calls, prior auths, peer to peer, refills, meetings, supervising, curbsides rooming you own patients (yes I know some who have to sometimes), etc.
 
Sapien3 said:
WRVU rate is really good for metro city. Do you mind sharing what is the target RVU # you need to hit to get more than your base salary?

Generally, is target RVU based on median RVU for the region based on MGMA data?

Is 10k RVU target for non-invasive cardiologist even imaginable?
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Usually we get about 1000-1400 wRVU per month
 
Stone Cold said:
Anyone ICs in Virginia? Preferably between DC and Richmond or within 1-2hr driving distance from either of these places

Curious to know if the comps are as low as NYC
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Let me know if you find out. A friend got a job in Maryland in private practice, IC, 375K base + 100K bounce
 
Beyond Salary Q:

What is the typical sign on bonus, relocation allowance, and PTO for non-invasive Cardiology?

I will start- Midwest $40k sign on bonus, $10k moving, and 37 PTO(includes vacation, holiday, sick, CME). liked the base pay which is fixed for 3 years. Did try to negotiate base but they didn’t budge. they were firm stating I am anywhere 75th percentile (which I figure is not 100% true but it’s out there.. no complaints about it )

I wish I had negotiated bonus and PTO. Posting here as most are focused on salary, like I was. PTO and bonus matter
 
In my area:

-30 k signing
-10 to 15k relocation
-30-40 days per year (including holidays)

The days per year is the ridiculous things as no one is counting those 24 weekend days one works as “work” or obviously all the weekday call nights.

I think the best chance that you get anyone to budge on anything is to focus on PTO.
 
Stone Cold said:
A friend of mine took an offer within a 1 hour commute to Richmond for $450k base, 50k signon and the option to move to RVU based after 2 years
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I got a similar contract in CT, suburban location, goes up to 600k after 2 years.
 
Here is a tough one - my wife and I are both new F2s in cardiology fellowships. Hope to practice in NJ (central vs north) ideally. She wants to do general with focus on imaging (trying to convince her to do community but maybe academic) and I want to do either general or possible interventional (coronary + peripheral) community practice.

Is it going to be impossible to both get jobs with 30 mins of each other if we both do community? What base salary should we be expecting if we both do community and options for growth in salary?
 
tatapizza1994 said:
Here is a tough one - my wife and I are both new F2s in cardiology fellowships. Hope to practice in NJ (central vs north) ideally. She wants to do general with focus on imaging (trying to convince her to do community but maybe academic) and I want to do either general or possible interventional (coronary + peripheral) community practice.

Is it going to be impossible to both get jobs with 30 mins of each other if we both do community? What base salary should we be expecting if we both do community and options for growth in salary?
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Plenty of jobs in NJ, esp noninvasive, many are not advertised. Starting ~400 and IC a little higher ~50k more with the call stipend.
 
You will be fine. Lots of jobs in NJ. General cardiology market is pretty hot. Lots of health systems want non invasive cardiologists. IC jobs are harder to find. Private practice IC job in Northern NJ means 80% general cardiology and 20% interventional work and you can do as much or as little STEMI call as you want.

Agree with starting salaries with above poster. If you are employed by a big health system, your salaries don’t increase that much. If you are in PP and make partner, you can earn upto 2x your starting salary (or more).
 
NYknicks44 said:
You will be fine. Lots of jobs in NJ. General cardiology market is pretty hot. Lots of health systems want non invasive cardiologists. IC jobs are harder to find. Private practice IC job in Northern NJ means 80% general cardiology and 20% interventional work and you can do as much or as little STEMI call as you want.

Agree with starting salaries with above poster. If you are employed by a big health system, your salaries don’t increase that much. If you are in PP and make partner, you can earn upto 2x your starting salary (or more).
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Partner income after 3-5 years are in the 700-900k range.
 
a2p2 said:
Partner income after 3-5 years are in the 700-900k range.
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Is this for group private practice or community? I am unsure hospital employed base/base +RVU have partner track.

I am currently hospital employed. High volume, busy hospital in healthcare oasis. Volume just flows in. High base+ RVu. Place is meh. I intend to switch in 2-3 years for long haul in good group, 3-4 days/week, robust in imaging , and 1:7 weekend with competitive salary/partner track. Does this kind of job exist ? Wonder how soon to start looking, interview and negotiate.
 
Entering interventional fellowship this year and trying to get a head start on what to expect during job hunt. On average in PP, how much wRVUs do interventionalists generate? I have heard anywhere between 9k-11k, but have heard as high as 15k. Is having more cath time (vs clinic) to your benefit in terms of generating more RVUs?
 
cardio776 said:
Entering interventional fellowship this year and trying to get a head start on what to expect during job hunt. On average in PP, how much wRVUs do interventionalists generate? I have heard anywhere between 9k-11k, but have heard as high as 15k. Is having more cath time (vs clinic) to your benefit in terms of generating more RVUs?
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Probably not, it likely breaks even. I'm gen cards and overall I produce around the same as my IC colleagues for similar effort, around that 10k mark, with far less stress. People who produce more certainly work more for it, it's not due to just more lab time. Blocked time, lab efficiency, scheduling, etc. all must be considered. All it takes is a STEMI, complication, etc. to really mess up the day for everyone. And you still need patients to fill that cath lab time.
 
cards67 said:
Probably not, it likely breaks even. I'm gen cards and overall I produce around the same as my IC colleagues for similar effort, around that 10k mark, with far less stress. People who produce more certainly work more for it, it's not due to just more lab time. Blocked time, lab efficiency, scheduling, etc. all must be considered. All it takes is a STEMI, complication, etc. to really mess up the day for everyone. And you still need patients to fill that cath lab time.
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Has it always been the case that clinic and lab time generate about the same? Or is that a relatively new phenomenon due to something like clinic reimbursement increasing or cath reimbursement decreasing in the last few years?
 
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TexasMed22 said:
Has it always been the case that clinic and lab time generate about the same? Or is that a relatively new phenomenon due to something like clinic reimbursement increasing or cath reimbursement decreasing?
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Read this on Reddit today. Cards attending:

"I gave up invasive after a car accident and am no general cardio with reading all imaging and I’m on the door of 7 but don’t feel like killing my self to get there as it won’t change my life one bit. I’m more than happy at 940k. I love what I do so that is what matters. The number of interventions are going down with better medical therapy and earlier diagnosis (CT) and treatment. So the delta between intervention and non is getting smaller. In the time a doc does three Caths of which 2 are non intervention and one a PCI I could have seen 8 patients or more and ordered 2 Cardiac PET scans and 2 echos and one implantable loop recorder and I would have billed far more (almost 7 x) the value of what my interventional partner did in the same time. With the added burden of night interventional call (you do get paid and additional 1000 a night ) it’s not worth it to me to have that lifestyle. It may be fun 5 or ten years out of fellowship but not 16 and nearing 50. But above all pick a specialty for your love or “like” of it and not the money. The high compensation comes with a lot of stress and liability. If it was that easy wouldn’t everyone do it?

Work 9-4:30 Most days. Take night call for one week at a time which is light and covered by a NP and I’m there for backup. One weekend of call every 6 which usually goes 8-12 with two NP’s doing the notes. We only see our own patients and do not take general call for the hospital. Limits out unscheduled work. Imaging is heavy. 7 or 8 PET cardiac scans/10 nuc scans and 20 echos and 20/30 other carotids, peripheral etc. I take a 1/2 day Friday every other Friday. Works for me. I don’t want to work any more than that. I could but choose not to."
 
TexasMed22 said:
Has it always been the case that clinic and lab time generate about the same? Or is that a relatively new phenomenon due to something like clinic reimbursement increasing or cath reimbursement decreasing in the last few years?
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Clinic visits got a big rvu increase a few years ago, which certainly helped but I don't think the gap was all that bad before that either. But a 7x difference some redditor posted is ridiculous.
 
It is all about efficiency in either clinic or cath lab.

If you have a well run clinic with good MA’s who room patients quickly and scribes, then you can generate a lot of rvus in clinic.

If you have a efficient cath lab where the lab turn over is quick and PA who can get consents and do reports, and you have a large referral base, then you can make a lot of rvu’s

It is a lot easier to optimize your clinic than the cath lab. In most cath labs, staff are paid by the hour and there is no incentive for them to be efficient. They get paid the same if you do 6 cases or 4 cases.
 
sloh said:
Read this on Reddit today. Cards attending:

"I gave up invasive after a car accident and am no general cardio with reading all imaging and I’m on the door of 7 but don’t feel like killing my self to get there as it won’t change my life one bit. I’m more than happy at 940k. I love what I do so that is what matters. The number of interventions are going down with better medical therapy and earlier diagnosis (CT) and treatment. So the delta between intervention and non is getting smaller. In the time a doc does three Caths of which 2 are non intervention and one a PCI I could have seen 8 patients or more and ordered 2 Cardiac PET scans and 2 echos and one implantable loop recorder and I would have billed far more (almost 7 x) the value of what my interventional partner did in the same time. With the added burden of night interventional call (you do get paid and additional 1000 a night ) it’s not worth it to me to have that lifestyle. It may be fun 5 or ten years out of fellowship but not 16 and nearing 50. But above all pick a specialty for your love or “like” of it and not the money. The high compensation comes with a lot of stress and liability. If it was that easy wouldn’t everyone do it?

Work 9-4:30 Most days. Take night call for one week at a time which is light and covered by a NP and I’m there for backup. One weekend of call every 6 which usually goes 8-12 with two NP’s doing the notes. We only see our own patients and do not take general call for the hospital. Limits out unscheduled work. Imaging is heavy. 7 or 8 PET cardiac scans/10 nuc scans and 20 echos and 20/30 other carotids, peripheral etc. I take a 1/2 day Friday every other Friday. Works for me. I don’t want to work any more than that. I could but choose not to."
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New attending- shy of a year. Hospital employed. They pump volume to my clinic. My RVU for 1st 6 months for 4.5k. I thought I would be way below. Lots of new patients in my clinic. I feel, the admin want to milk me, as similar compensated cards in this Oasis of healthcare sees low #. I am in love hate relationship with clinic director and practice managers who are RN and LPN #SMH. This is not my long term location ATM

Coming to hours- This is similar work hours of general and IC. If you want worklife balance, don't want to be stuck in front of computer (i dont mind, I probably would have done radiology but too boring and no diversity) and don't want STEMI stress - Do EP. if fixed pay- EP gets paid more for hospital employed. My EP partners do 1.5 clinic, cover consults and do procedures rest of the time. Sweet lifestyle.
 
Sapien3 said:
New attending- shy of a year. Hospital employed. They pump volume to my clinic. My RVU for 1st 6 months for 4.5k. I thought I would be way below. Lots of new patients in my clinic. I feel, the admin want to milk me, as similar compensated cards in this Oasis of healthcare sees low #. I am in love hate relationship with clinic director and practice managers who are RN and LPN #SMH. This is not my long term location ATM

Coming to hours- This is similar work hours of general and IC. If you want worklife balance, don't want to be stuck in front of computer (i dont mind, I probably would have done radiology but too boring and no diversity) and don't want STEMI stress - Do EP. if fixed pay- EP gets paid more for hospital employed. My EP partners do 1.5 clinic, cover consults and do procedures rest of the time. Sweet lifestyle.
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Sucks they are exploiting you as a w2? Are you entertaining pp?
 
Sapien3 said:
New attending- shy of a year. Hospital employed. They pump volume to my clinic. My RVU for 1st 6 months for 4.5k. I thought I would be way below. Lots of new patients in my clinic. I feel, the admin want to milk me, as similar compensated cards in this Oasis of healthcare sees low #. I am in love hate relationship with clinic director and practice managers who are RN and LPN #SMH. This is not my long term location ATM

Coming to hours- This is similar work hours of general and IC. If you want worklife balance, don't want to be stuck in front of computer (i dont mind, I probably would have done radiology but too boring and no diversity) and don't want STEMI stress - Do EP. if fixed pay- EP gets paid more for hospital employed. My EP partners do 1.5 clinic, cover consults and do procedures rest of the time. Sweet lifestyle.
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The norm for clinic patients is 30 min for new and 15 for follow up. As long as you are not being double booked, you cannot ask for anything more.

If you are planning on staying there long term, it is good to have a large outpatient panel. In about 1 to 2 years, all of these patients will be follow ups. Those are easy and quick visits, and your clinic days will get a lot easier and easy rvu’s

I am an IC. I wish I did EP. In most places, EP are more specialized, and they can just do procedures and clinic with no emergencies
 
NYknicks44 said:
The norm for clinic patients is 30 min for new and 15 for follow up. As long as you are not being double booked, you cannot ask for anything more.

If you are planning on staying there long term, it is good to have a large outpatient panel. In about 1 to 2 years, all of these patients will be follow ups. Those are easy and quick visits, and your clinic days will get a lot easier and easy rvu’s

I am an IC. I wish I did EP. In most places, EP are more specialized, and they can just do procedures and clinic with no emergencies
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Many double and triple booking- explanation given to do so is keep numbers to compensate for no-shows . And, one day all show up and it gets Chaotic. The clinic week gets busy as we do 5 days a week. And, read our images between. + Inbox which we need to address as well.
 
sloh said:
Sucks they are exploiting you as a w2? Are you entertaining pp?
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I think so. Older folks have similar work load. Dont know if they are rvu. PP is in radar for sure
 
Sapien3 said:
Many double and triple booking- explanation given to do so is keep numbers to compensate for no-shows . And, one day all show up and it gets Chaotic. The clinic week gets busy as we do 5 days a week. And, read our images between. + Inbox which we need to address as well.
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I am sorry. It seems like they are taking advantage of you. Depending on the politics of the office and the group, I would complain about the double/triple booking. If you don’t complain, they will keep doing it.
 
Sapien3 said:
I think so. Older folks have similar work load. Dont know if they are rvu. PP is in radar for sure
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If you're on straight salary that sucks but that's the risk of going that route vs going on production. I'm assuming the pay structure, scheduling habits, etc. were clear when you interviewed and accepted the job and that it just hasn't turned out to be a good fit. Hopefully you can figure things out.
 
Compensation is ok. The target RVU set for bonus for doing extra work. Target rvu is high and is not matching the base compensation IMO. I am unsure what 10000k RVU target will result in annual compensation if you are solely on RVU model.
 
I'm looking for salary jobs with incentive bonuses, much better than RVUs in my opinion.
 
shouldigomd said:
There is no "much better." All depends on the powers at be. Salary positions can lead to abuse
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The salary is higher than many others I have seen with RVUs included with much less clinic patients.. I'll take that any day of the week.
 
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