Ever wonder how much your primary care colleagues earn and how hard they work? Here's your chance to find out.
Jump to: | Choose article section...Five-year net income trend: Only pediatricians beat inflation What's happened to patient visits over the years? Where the money is for primary careDoctors in the South generally see more patients Net income reaches its peak in the early 50s in most fields......and that means mid-careerexcept for ob/gyns The gender gap persistsNo 40-hour workweeks hereHow level 3 office visit fees and payments differa five-year perspective For most primary care doctors, only a handful of managed care contracts How managed care involvement affects net income |
Ever wonder how much your primary care colleagues earn and how hard they work? Here's your chance to find out.
An extra $1,000 a month. That's what you could expect if you were an internist from Chicago starting a new job in Pennsylvania. If you were an FP making the same move, though, forget that geographical bonus: You'd be more likely to give up a few hundred dollars a month.
These are just two tidbits from our in-depth study of primary care specialties. The numbers come from the Medical Economics Continuing Survey, which polls MDs and DOs in office-based private practice.
Our latest figures show that internists and ob/gyns worked longer hours in 2000 than FPs and pediatricians, yet saw significantly fewer patients. Over the past 10 years, while internists' working hours and patient visits held steady, FPs shortened their workweek by 17 percent and saw patient visits drop from 142 a week to 128.
Both specialties enjoyed rising incomes over the five-year period between 1994 and 1999, though the increase for FPs has been twice as great, at just over 6 percent. That's nowhere near pediatricians' 13 percent gain, however. Overall, ob/gyns lead the primary care pack in net income. Internists, who were the second-highest-earning primary care specialists in 1994, have now fallen behind both FPs and pediatricians.
We chose level 3 office visits as a window to fees and reimbursements over the past five years. Internists made greater gains in payments for established patients, while FPs saw bigger increases for new patients. Both specialties' fees for new patient visits rose by comparable amounts in the past five years, while internists increased their fees for established patient visits slightly more. Internists' fees for both new and established patients are higher than FPs'.
Here are other highlights of our findings:
If those who don't participate can maintain a busy practice, they receive a higher percentage of their standard fees than do their colleagues in managed care. And needing less staff for billing, they have lower overhead as well, explains Michael J. Wiley of Healthcare Management and Consulting Services in Bay Shore, NY.
Still, a greater percentage of ob/gyns (24 percent) participated in 10 or more HMOs or PPOs than did doctors in any other specialty.
Use the following tables and charts to compare yourself with other primary care physicians. For information on how the Continuing Survey was conducted, see "YIKES! Primary care earnings plummet" in our Sept. 18, 2000, issue.
1999 | 1994 | % change, 1994-1999 | |
FPs | $128,490 | $121,060 | 6.1% |
GPs | 106,990 | 100,240 | 6.7 |
Internists | 127,090 | 123,530 | 2.9 |
Ob/gyns | 191,270 | 195,830 | -2.3 |
Pediatricians | 133,750 | 118,390 | 13.0 |
Consumer Price Index | 12.4 | ||
Visits Per Week | |||
1990 | 1995 | 2000 | |
FPs | 142 | 130 | 128 |
GPs | 127 | 107 | 120 |
Internists | 107 | 109 | 105 |
Ob/gyns | 108 | 94 | 100 |
Pediatricians | 151 | 140 | 127 |
Net income | ||||
East | Midwest | South | West | |
FPs | $127,340 | $133,470 | $132,620 | $120,850 |
GPs | * | 124,070 | 104,200 | 102,150 |
Internists | 133,850 | 120,560 | 129,560 | 124,620 |
Ob/gyns | 194,370 | 196,320 | 206,090 | 167,020 |
Pediatricians | 128,960 | 130,460 | 140,330 | 129,620 |
Visits per week | ||||
East | Midwest | South | West | |
FPs | 125 | 125 | 148 | 112 |
GPs | * | 125 | 120 | 118 |
Internists | 104 | 104 | 110 | 100 |
Ob/gyns | 98 | 92 | 108 | 100 |
Pediatricians | 116 | 120 | 145 | 125 |
Age | |||||||
35-39 | 40-44 | 45-49 | 50-54 | 55-59 | 60-64 | 70 and over | |
FPs | $123,060 | $128,640 | $144,620 | $148,650 | $136,500 | $117,260 | $101,820 |
GPs | * | * | 115,610 | * | * | 106,880 | 103,140 |
Internists | 115,250 | 141,640 | 133,890 | 147,790 | 141,910 | 120,410 | 108,730 |
Ob/gyns | 184,140 | 213,050 | 215,800 | 208,820 | 167,590 | * | * |
Pediatricians | 127,530 | 124,500 | 139,810 | 148,700 | 138,870 | 145,010 | * |
Years in practice | |||||
1-5 | 6-10 | 11-20 | 21-30 | More than 30 | |
FPs | $108,360 | $130,000 | $131,050 | $139,830 | $114,880 |
GPs | * | * | 108,310 | 106,130 | 106,590 |
Internists | 117,850 | 125,570 | 145,060 | 124,030 | 120,950 |
Ob/gyns | 171,690 | 209,750 | 198,470 | 195,670 | 145,130 |
Pediatricians | 120,810 | 128,140 | 135,520 | 152,650 | 140,530 |
New patient (99203) | ||||
2000 fee | 2000 actual payment | 1995 fee | 1995 actual payment | |
FPs | $90 | $70 | $67 | $56 |
GPs | 78 | 60 | 68 | 58 |
Internists | 99 | 70 | 76 | 62 |
Ob/gyns | 100 | 70 | 80 | 65 |
Pediatricians | 80 | 60 | 65 | 52 |
Established patient (99213) | ||||
2000 fee | 2000 actual payment | 1995 fee | 1995 actual payment | |
FPs | $55 | $42 | $44 | $37 |
GPs | 50 | 40 | 45 | 35 |
Internists | 60 | 45 | 45 | 38 |
Ob/gyns | 65 | 45 | 51 | 40 |
Pediatricians | 55 | 41 | 44 | 37 |
Number of contracted HMOs/PPOs | |||||
None | 1-4 | 5-9 | 10 or more | Median | |
FPs | 21% | 46% | 21% | 12% | 4 |
GPs | 45 | 41 | 11 | 3 | 3 |
Internists | 21 | 45 | 20 | 14 | 4 |
Ob/gyns | 18 | 34 | 24 | 24 | 5 |
Pediatricians | 11 | 44 | 25 | 19 | 4 |
In at least one HMO | No HMO participation | In at least one PPO | No PPO participation | |
FPs | $129,340 | $122,540 | $128,630 | $122,830 |
GPs | 119,290 | 83,290 | 120,120 | 91,630 |
Internists | 131,670 | 120,530 | 136,880 | 110,810 |
Ob/gyns | 186,620 | 218,340 | 183,420 | 210,120 |
Pediatricians | 133,860 | 139,720 | 136,430 | 128,640 |
Anne Finger. Primary care: Where do you stand on the pay scale?.
Medical Economics
2001;6:140.