Healthcare Executives Median Base Salaries Up 3.1%

Health system executives saw a median salary increase of 3.6%, while hospital executives saw an increase of 2.6% in the last year. Physician assistants saw a 4.05% bump.

Median base salaries for health system and hospital executives rose 3.1% in the past year, according tosurvey data from Sullivan, Cotter and Associates, Inc.

The data, reportedly gleaned from more than 400 health systems and 1,300 hospitals, found that large systems with more than $1 billion in revenue and large hospitals with $300 million or more in revenue saw median base salaries increase at a faster rate than their smaller counterparts. The increases were both above average at 3.6% and 3%, respectively.

Health system executives saw a median increase of 3.6%, while hospital executives saw an increase of 2.6%.

Tom Pavlik, Managing Principal, Sullivan Cotter, says some of the compensation increases are related to the size of the systems, "but also to the complexity of the roles."

"It is a combination of the growth in the organization, the growth in the role, and the growth in the span of responsibilities for the executives," he says. "We are starting to see new positions come along for executives that have clinical integration or population health expertise. We didn't have those positions in the survey five or 10 years ago."

Pavlik says today's healthcare executives are grappling with the transition to value-based care, consolidation and integration strategy, all in an increasingly competitive healthcare sector.

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"Does the expertise have to be broader or deeper? The answer is both," Pavlik says. "There has to be a deeper knowledge of our current healthcare delivery environment. But now we are having to look beyond the typical acute care setting to looking at health plans, health insurance markets, ambulatory care, and physician networks. If you look at the vertical and horizontal integration, it is happening in both directions and that will impact roles as well."

The changes in base salary were consistent with 2014's overall change. However, total cash compensation increased 6.9% for top executive positions. This is higher in health systems at 7.4%, and up from 1.8% in the 2014 findings.

Pavlik says the prevalence of annual incentives has remained the same but the number of healthcare organizations paying incentive awards and paying at target levels increased in 2015. 

"More organizations paid out incentive awards and those that did paid at target levels or higher for a significant number of those organizations. That drove total cash to a nearly 7% increase from last year," Pavlik says.

PAs See Solid Compensation Growth
Physician assistants fared relatively better than executives. The median base salary for PAs in 2014 was $93,800, a 4.05% increase over 2012, according to a survey from American Academy of Physician Assistants.

AAPA administered the online survey between February and March, 2015. More than 10,000 AAPA members and nonmembers responded. 

The AAPA administered online survey heard from more than 10,000 respondents. Fifty-four percent of all PAs received monetary bonuses and more than 75% receive some other form of compensation, such as research stipends, profit sharing, student loan repayment, paid relocation, tuition reimbursement or signing bonuses.

"PAs are a dynamic and driving force across all of healthcare. This survey is invaluable to those who are looking to change specialties or geographic location, or who just want to understand their position in the marketplace," AAPA CEO Jennifer Dorn said in prepared remarks. "It's also a key tool for employers, as they recognize and reward the crucial role PAs play in reducing costs, increasing access for patients and delivering quality care."

The survey additionally found that:

• PAs at critical access hospitals ($115,000), industrial facilities ($115,000), and hospital emergency departments ($101,920) reported the highest median compensation levels.
• PAs in the cardiovascular and cardiothoracic surgery specialty reported the highest median base salary ($117,000) followed by interventional radiology ($105,500), emergency medicine ($102,960) and pediatric surgery ($102,500).
• PAs with less than one year of experience had a base salary of $85,000, which rose to $89,000 for those with 2 to 4 years, and $96,000 for those with 5 to 9 years' experience.

Founded in 1968, AAPA represents approximately 104,000 certified PAs across all medical and surgical specialties in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. territories and the military.