Primary care reports bigger compensation increases than normal as specialists struggle to keep pace with inflation

Although the results of the 2008 MGMA Physician Compensation and Production Survey—one of the most widely used industry surveys and the first released this year—revealed bigger compensation increases than the 2007 survey, the overall physician compensation picture is still one of relative stagnation.

However, there was a nugget of good news in the data for primary care physicians. Compensation increases were larger than normal for primary care from 2006 to 2007 (the survey is based on data from 2007) after years of flat or declining compensation, and overall primary care compensation increased at roughly twice the rate as overall specialty compensation.