Newswise — ALEXANDRIA, VA-According to findings released today in the American Medical Group Association's 2012 Medical Group Compensation and Financial Survey, many provider organizations continue to operate at a significant loss (e.g., -$1,235 per physician national median operating margin), and although 79% of specialties saw increases in compensation in 2011, most increases were marginal.

The compensation portion of the survey found that 79% of the specialties experienced increases in compensation in 2011, with the overall average increase around 2.8%. The primary care specialties saw about a 4.0% increase in 2011, while other medical specialties averaged an increase of 2.8% and surgical specialties averaged around 3.4%. The survey reports that during 2011, the specialties experiencing the largest increases in compensation were hematology and medical oncology (7.13%), hypertension and nephrology (6.99%), urgent care (5.17%), and family medicine (5.13%).

"In the face of the current, challenging economic climate, multispecialty medical groups and other organized systems of care continue to rise to the challenge of delivering the highest quality, coordinated care to the patients they serve," commented Donald W. Fisher, Ph.D., CAE, president and chief executive officer of AMGA. "The data from the survey provides more evidence that the current Medicare system for the reimbursement and financing of health care is unsustainable. AMGA continues to advocate for changes in the Medicare reimbursement system, including a shift from volume-based to value-base payment models."

The AMGA 2012 Medical Group Compensation and Financial Survey gives a complete financial picture of medical group operations in one volume, providing compensation, productivity, and financial operations data from healthcare providers throughout the United States, including 124 specialties, 32 other healthcare provider positions, and 28 administrative positions. The data represents responses from 225 medical groups, representing 55,800 providers (55.6% of groups report more than 100 physicians). The survey data includes starting salaries by specialty; medians, means, and percentiles; compensation/productivity ratios; and comparative data from previous surveys, as well as providing analysis by group size and geographic region. In the financial section, profiles are provided per physician FTE, square footage, and work RVU. In addition to staffing profiles, the financial data includes medians, capitation impact, accounts receivable analysis, and department level analysis. A section examines data specific to the academic/faculty practice environment. The 25th annual AMGA compensation and financial survey was conducted by the national consulting firm of Sullivan, Cotter and Associates, Inc.

About Sullivan, Cotter and Associates, Inc.SullivanCotter is the leading independent consulting firm in the assessment and development of tailored total compensation and reward programs for tax-exempt, not-for-profit organizations. For more than 20 years, the firm has provided executive and employee compensation, governance, and physician compensation counsel to a wide variety of health care and higher education organizations, associations and foundations. A recognized leader in health care compensation benchmarking, trends and analyses, SullivanCotter has also developed the most widely recognized physician and health care executive compensation surveys in the United States. Building from this unparalleled data, the firm works closely with executives, boards and compensation committees to devise innovative solutions to attract and retain leadership talent while satisfying not-for-profit missions and regulatory requirements. www.sullivancotter.com

About the American Medical Group AssociationThe American Medical Group Association represents medical groups, including some of the nation's largest, most prestigious medical practices, independent practice associations, and integrated healthcare delivery systems. AMGA's mission is to improve health care for patients by supporting multispecialty medical groups and other organized systems of care. The members of AMGA deliver health care to approximately 130 million patients in 49 states, more than one in three Americans. Headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, AMGA is the strategic partner for medical groups, providing a comprehensive package of benefits, including political advocacy, educational and networking programs and publications, benchmarking data services, and financial and operations assistance. www.amga.org

A limited number of copies of this year's survey are available for working press. For press copies, contact Tom Flatt at [email protected]. Surveys are also available for purchase for $325 to AMGA members and $650 to nonmembers. To order, visit www.amga.org or contact Stefan Rozga at (703) 838-0033, ext. 326. Survey data is also available in a subscription-based, interactive, online database. For details, contact Stefan Rozga or visit www.amga.org.