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you probably could have signed up in the time this argument this has taken!Here is copy/paste of the captions to all the figures with synopsis:
1. Survey fielded to 455,000 U.S. physicians
Total respondents*: 15,794 U.S. physicians across 22 specialty areas
Fieldwork conducted by Medscape from 2/2/11 to 3/30/11
Data collected via third-party online survey collection site
2.More than 15,000 physicians nationwide took part in Medscape's 2011 Compensation Survey. Primary care physicians and 21 other specialties are represented. Despite the poor economy, a majority of physicians across all specialties reported that compensation was stable or increased over the past year. Orthopedic surgeons, radiologists, anesthesiologists, and cardiologists were the top earners, bringing in more than twice the average income of endocrinologists, primary care physicians, and pediatricians.
For employed physicians, compensation includes salary, bonus, and profit-sharing contributions. For partners, compensation includes earnings after tax-deductible business expenses but before income tax. Compensation excludes non-patient related activities (ie, expert witness fees, speaking engagements, and product sales).
3. Despite the poor economic climate, one half of all physicians reported that their income remained the same between 2009 and 2010. About 23% reported a decline in income, whereas 27% said their income increased. Among the specialties, urologists reported the biggest decrease. For cardiologists, 35% reported a decrease in earnings; this is mainly due to significant cuts in reimbursement levels, says Travis Singleton, senior vice president of AMN Healthcare, a physician staffing firm in Irving, Texas.
4.Across all specialties, male physicians earn about 41% more than female doctors. In primary care, men earn 21% more. "The vast majority of women physicians are in primary care or obstetrics, so it's natural that they would earn less," says AMN's Travis Singleton. Many women physicians are more likely to work fewer hours than their male counterparts, choosing part-time schedules to balance work and family/lifestyle needs, says Singleton. Also, there are fewer women in some of the higher-paying specialties.
5. The salaries noted above are medians. The highest-earning physicians in Medscape's survey practice in the North Central region, comprising Kansas, Nebraska, North and South Dakota, Iowa, and Missouri, at a median salary of $225,000. The next-highest earners are doctors in the South Central region, comprising Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas, at $216,000. Physicians in the Northeast and Southwest earn the least, at a median of $190,000.
6. Physicians in small cities earned slightly more than those in other community types, although overall, the difference was not great.
Note: Major metropolitan area = population 500,000 or more; Midsized city = population 100,000 499,999; Small city = population 50,000 99,999; Suburbs = within 30 45 minutes of a major metropolitan area; Small town or rural = population under 25,000.
7. The typical physician partner in a private practice earns a median of about $275,000, followed by physicians in single-specialty and multispecialty group practices. They earn significantly more than employed physicians and those in solo practice. Physicians with an equity stake typically approach work differently than do employed doctors, says Travis Singleton. "Many physicians, particularly the younger generation, are willing to sacrifice income for an easier quality of life," says Singleton. "Someone else worries about the marketing and other business aspects of medicine."
8. Despite physician concern about reimbursement levels, more than half of doctors overall feel that they are fairly compensated. However, less than half of primary care physicians were satisfied with their compensation. "Primary care doctors have legitimate concerns," says Travis Singleton. "Under the current system, consultations and coordination of care aren't valued as highly as performing procedures." There was little difference according to practice setting: Both employed physicians (53%) and doctors in private practice (52%) said that they were fairly compensated.
9. Some specialists spend more of their workweek in direct patient care than do other physicians. Anesthesiologists, cardiologists, gastroenterologists, surgeons, and urologists spend an average of 46-50 hours per week seeing patients. By contrast, primary care physicians spend a median of 30-40 hours per week in direct patient care, owing to intense paperwork and administrative demands. How productivity will be measured is likely to evolve because of healthcare reform and new developments in medicine, notes Travis Singleton. "Medical homes, accountable care organizations, the emphasis on quality and effectiveness and whether the reimbursement system will really change will have an impact that's unknown right now," he said.
10. The largest percentage of physicians see between 50 and 99 patients per week. Pediatricians have the most patient visits. The type of visit and specialty plays a large role: surgeons may see a much smaller number of patients, whereas psychiatrists doing primarily medication management may see many more patients. A majority of emergency physicians have 50-99 patient visits per week.
11. Overall, the 13 16 minute patient visit is most common. Anesthesiologists, neurologists, and radiologists spend more time with each patient: a median of 25 minutes or more. Primary care physicians spend a median of 13-16 minutes per patient, whereas dermatologists and ophthalmologists spend the least time -- a median of 9-12 minutes per encounter.
12. Female physicians consistently spend more time with each patient than do male physicians. As the length of patient visits increases, women doctors comprise a larger proportion of the comparison measurements. "The cultural differences between men and women explain this," says Travis Singleton. "Females tend to go into primary care, pediatrics, and obstetrics. It fits with the nurturing spirit and sense of family life."
13. The number of patient encounters differs little according to where physicians practice. A median of 50-99 visits per week is standard. About 25% of doctors practicing in suburban areas have at least 100 patient encounters a week, compared with about 18% of doctors in major metropolitan areas.
14. Paperwork and other non-patient-care obligations account for a significant part of each physician's life. "Paperwork has increased tremendously for all physicians, and that includes time spend answering patient e-mails that physicians don't get paid for," says Singleton. About 20% oncologists, surgeons, and cardiologists spend 20 or more hours per week on these professional activities. About 17% of primary care physicians do as well. Billing issues, supervisory work, office meetings, and other activities can take up significant time.
15. While many physicians justifiably express frustration with the state of practice today, a large majority (69%) would still choose medicine as a career. About 61% of physicians would choose the same specialty, whereas 21% would abandon their current specialty. Half would remain in the same practice setting; 21% would change settings, and 29% were unsure. "It is horrific how many primary care doctors indicated they would not practice primary care again when compared to the number of specialists who indicated they would not be in their field again," notes one family physician from Montana. "One has to wonder about that."
16/17. Dermatologists led the group among those most satisfied with their choice of specialty, followed by orthopedic surgeons, radiologists, plastic surgeons, and gastroenterologists. On the other end of the scale, primary care physicians were the least satisfied, followed by nephrologists, obstetricians/gynecologists, and pulmonologists. Still, more than half of respondents in every specialty were satisfied with their profession.
18. For those physicians who would abandon a career in medicine, the top alternative choices were business, law, teaching, finance, and engineering. One physician, reflecting his frustration at reimbursements, said, "I'd become an assassin of insurance company executives." A number of doctors said that they would choose a career in dentistry, whereas others said that they would prefer to be a chef, musician, farmer, or photographer.
19. Survey respondents were 68% male and 32% female. At least 40% of respondents were employed physicians at hospitals, healthcare organizations, private practices, or academic settings and research. Twenty-eight percent of respondents were aged 28-39 years, 27% were 40-49 years, 28% were 50-59 years, and 17% were aged 60 years or older. More than 84% of survey respondents are board-certified.
The largest percentage of survey respondents were primary care physicians (internal medicine and family medicine), followed by pediatrics, psychiatry, emergency medicine, Ob/GYN, surgery, and anesthesiology.
The survey's collection timeline spanned from February 2, 2011, through February 17, 2011. Demographic/attitudinal weighting was not applied to tabulation as the survey was to physicians with a similar demographic profile. In some cases, small sample size may skew data results. However, the overall number of responses by specialty mirror AMA breakdown. Note that compensation data is represented by the median reported figures.
