MGMA: Salaries Static, Responsibilities Rise

Compensation for practice management administrators held steady or saw only modest gains in 2009, according to Medical Group Management Association’s Management Compensation Survey: 2010 Report based on 2009 data.

Administrators with seven to 25 full-time-equivalent physicians earned 0.3% less, while their counterparts with 26 or more FTE physicians reported a 2.3% increase in compensation, the survey found.

Though compensation was generally static for most practice management professionals, some positions made gains in 2009 by taking on more responsibility, including:

• Assistant administrator
• COO
• Office manager
• Human resources director
• Nursing services director

“Clinical integration and greater complexity in healthcare appeared to drive salary increases for certain medical practice management professionals,” says William F. Jessee, MD, MGMA president/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.”