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National Survey Finds Physician Payments Rising
[April 29, 2016]

National Survey Finds Physician Payments Rising


MD Ranger is the first national compensation survey to release 2015-2016 physician payment rates. More than 250 benchmarks are reported for call coverage, medical direction, medical staff leadership, diagnostic testing, clinical professional services, and hospital-based physician services. Benchmarks are derived from a database of more than 24,000 contracts from hospitals, medical groups, dialysis centers, specialty, and long term care providers. Organizations use these benchmarks to negotiate agreements, set budgets, and document compliance with Stark and AKS.

Key takeaways from MD Ranger's 2015-2016 benchmarks include:

  • Per diem payment rates for call coverage services grew at an average of 5% over last year.
  • Though hourly rates for administrative services remained flat, the annual cost of administrative contracts grew 7%, driven by increases in hours worked.
  • Total hospital payments for direction and other administrative service payments grew almost 25% from 2014-15 to 2015-16, while total call coverage payments remained flat.
  • Several physician services experienced notable changes:
    • Obstetrcal Hospitalists/Laborists: MD Ranger observed growth in both the number and cost of programs. There was a 25% increase in annual payments (excluding medical direction), bringing the median payment to $800,000.
    • Cardiology: Both the scope and cost of cardiology-related coverage and direction contracts increased. Services include STEMI, cath lab, rehab, non-interventional, cardiac anesthesia, and heart centers.
    • Neurology: Neurology-related coverage and direction contracts increased, even at small and rural hospitals, fueled by the growth in neuro-interventional, stroke-related services, and telemedicine contracts.
    • Infection Control: Infectious disease-related services are evolving with a variety of antibiotic stewardship, directorships, and coverage agreements.



Many of these changes are related to the growing number of quality, outcomes and pay-for-performance-related initiatives driven by regulatory and accreditation organizations.

For further analysis of MD Ranger's 2016 physician compensation findings, register for the complimentary webinar on June 9th, 2016. Register here.


MD Ranger is the leading provider of data-driven physician contract payment solutions that help health care organizations determine payment rates, negotiate competitive contracts, and comply with federal regulations. The company's proprietary database reduces the complexity and costs of establishing fair market value for on-call arrangements, medical directorships, administrative services, diagnostic testing services, and hospital-based medical groups.


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