MGMA survey: Practice management pay flat in 2009

If you are a medical office assistant administrator, COO, office manager, human resources director or nursing services director, you likely saw an increase in your paycheck in 2009--but not without working for it, according to Medical Group Management Association's (MGMA's) Management Compensation Survey: 2010 Report Based on 2009 Data.

"Clinical integration and greater complexity in healthcare appeared to drive salary increases for certain medical practice management professionals," said William F. Jessee, MD, FACMPE, MGMA president and CEO. "These professionals likely took on a broader scope of responsibility in their positions as a result of continued economic pressures and changes in the healthcare environment."

For other practice management professionals--who no doubt also had to work harder in a challenging year--pay remained fairly stagnant. Practice administrators with 26 or more FTE physicians reported a 2.3 percent increase in median 2009 compensation, from $132,000 to $134,992. Their counterparts with seven to 25 FTE physicians, however, earned 0.3 percent less, from $115,000 to $114,680.

Nonphysician CEOs of all sized practices received almost 6 percent more in 2009 than in 2008, while the smaller proportion of physician presidents who participated in the voluntary survey reportedly suffered a 17.3 percent decrease, from $415,853 to $343,981. Meanwhile, medical directors said their compensation increased 3.6 percent--from $254,262 to $263,438. Physician executives in hospital/integrated delivery system-owned practices, however, reported modest to substantial increases from 2007 to 2009.

According to the report, 7,907 managers from 1,316 group practices completed this year's survey.

To learn more:
- read the press release from MGMA

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