Specialty physician compensation barely keeps up with inflation

Compensation for specialists increased only 3.16% last year, or just 0.31% when adjusted for inflation, according to the latest MGMA compensation survey. “Although primary care physicians posted modest gains in compensation as a result of increased productivity and reweighting of evaluation and management codes, overall practice costs continue to rise at staggering rates,” said MGMA President and CEO William F. Jessee, MD, FACMPE, in a statement. “The continued uncertainty of the reimbursement environment creates an untenable situation for physician groups.”