By Ron Holder
Due to recent economic and staffing challenges, healthcare providers have seen a decrease in productivity while inflation rates hinder compensation growth. These challenges have put a significant amount of pressure on medical groups, hospitals, and health systems as they are faced with labor shortages that can also hinder provider productivity. In the face of a tight labor market, rising inflation, and the recurring problem of being short-staffed, retention strategies are more important than ever for healthcare leaders.
The 2023 MGMA Provider Compensation report reflects data from nearly 190,000 providers at more than 6,800 organizations and offers a glimpse into the constantly evolving financial picture for healthcare providers. This comprehensive guide can help inform healthcare leaders of what to consider when budgeting and building compensation models to recruit and retain the physician and APP workforce of the future.
Key highlights from the 2023 MGMA report
This report details some key trends and benchmarks from MGMA DataDive and offers expert insights from leading consultants. By providing an extensive analysis and high-quality metrics of the compensation landscape, healthcare leaders can budget and build compensation models that will attract and retain physicians and APPs.
Key highlights from the 2023 MGMA Provider Compensation report:
- Provider compensation has increased across the board, with primary care physicians (PCPs) receiving the most significant increase of 4.41% over the last year. However, the Consumer Price Index rose 6.5% from December 2021 to December 2022, which far exceeded most gains in provider compensation measured in MGMA's data set. Although the growth rate in median total compensation for PCPs doubled from 2021 (2.13%) to 2022 (4.41%), it couldn't overtake inflation at 7% and 6.5%, respectively.
- Over the past three years, compensation growth has varied across specialties, from a 0.13% rise in Urgent Care physician compensation to a 10.57% increase for Family Medicine (without obstetrics) physicians.
- Advanced Practice Provider (APP) compensation experienced a moderate uptick within the last year, ranging from 4.08% to 9.22%, and slightly varies depending on the specialty.
- In November 2022, MGMA polling found a nearly three-way split on where medical groups stood heading into this year: About one in three (29%) reported that they have exceeded their productivity goals for the year, while 36% were on target and another 36% were below their expected levels.
