New York physicians’ average compensation dropped to about $340,000 per year in 2023, a 2% dip from 2022, according to new data from medical news site Medscape.
The data, released this morning, surveyed 7,000 full-time physicians on their compensation last year, including base salaries, incentive bonuses and other income such as profit-sharing contributions. It shows that the state’s average earnings lag behind that of the mid-Atlantic region, where doctors make an average of $351,000 per year. The region trails the rest of the U.S.
Jon McKenna, the executive editor for reports at Medscape, attributed the decline to New York’s surplus of doctors. The state is a “center of medicine” and therefore doesn’t have to offer salaries as competitive as rural states looking to attract talent do, he said.
“A relative undersupply of doctors puts [rural states] in the driver’s seat on compensation,” he said. In the Midwest, for example, doctors earn $404,000 per year on average. McKenna added that a slight decline could be due to a dip in bonuses, not base salaries.
The Medscape data also shows that the gap between specialty and primary care physicians continues to widen. In New York, primary care doctors made $264,000 annually on average, while specialists earned $365,000. Nationally, specialists made 44% more than primary care physicians. Orthopedic specialists and surgeons make the most of any specialist, at $558,000 on average.
By contrast, the pay gap between Black physicians and physicians of other racial and ethnic groups shrunk. Black doctors made an average of $332,000 annually across the country, a 7% increase.
Though all doctors’ average pay ticked up by 3% over the previous report, McKenna noted that inflation and cuts to Medicare reimbursement rates have left some physicians feeling dissatisfied with their pay. Of the 7,000 physicians Medscape surveyed, 61% reported they felt physicians generally are underpaid, and 39% said they have picked up extra work. Going forward, McKenna said, he expects more of the same as reimbursement rates and inflation continue to fluctuate.
Medscape was developed in 1995. It is owned, along with WebMD, by California-based company Internet Brands. Medscape has been conducting a yearly survey of physician compensation since 2011.
Jacqueline Neber , 2024-04-12 11:33:04
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