On-call pay trends begin to stabilize, survey finds

The tug-of-war between hospitals and physicians over on-call pay may be nearing a truce, and hospitals are seeking ways to strike a balance between their budgetary concerns and physicians’ desire to be paid for on-call duty. As a result, on-call pay rates are stabilizing.

Detroit-based Sullivan, Cotter and Associates, Inc., recently released its fourth annual survey of physician on-call pay rates and practices, the 2008 Physician On-call Pay Survey Report, and although the prevalence of on-call pay for physicians continues to increase, the growth in the rates paid for call coverage has slowed.