Business
Academic practice pay flat
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted April 10, 2006
Physicians in academic practices reported stagnant income in 2005, according to a report by the Englewood, Colo.-based Medical Group Management Assn.
Academic physicians in primary care saw compensation increase only 0.2%, from $135,000 in 2004 to $135,278 in 2005, according to the report. Specialty physicians in academic practices saw compensation hold steady at $195,000, according to the report.
Experts said the leveling of compensation, combined with stagnant incomes in other academic practice positions, seemed to indicate more of a cost-conscious attitude among academic practices.
"Many academic practices find themselves in a vise. Squeezing them on one side are increased operating costs and malpractice insurance premiums, and squeezing them on the other side are decreased reimbursement and funding," said Billy Newton Jr., administrator for the Dept. of Pediatrics at the Duke University School of Medicine, in Durham, N.C.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2006/04/10/bibf0410.htm.
