Reimbursement, Liability Issues Frustrate Surgeons
Physician Recruiting Firm Data Indicate Many Plan Job Change, Despite 6% Salary Increase
Alpharetta , Ga., October 5, 2006— As the American College of Surgeons prepares to meet in Chicago next week, physician recruiting firm LocumTenens.com today offered a look of the state of the general surgeon practicing in the United States.
Among 327 general surgeons responding to a national on-line survey conducted in summer 2006, only 4% said they were not frustrated about practicing medicine in today’s healthcare marketplace. The remaining respondents identified with a list of possible frustrations as follows:
Reimbursement issues – 34%
Medical liability issues – 23%
Lifestyle issues: Too much time at work – 16%
Administrative and business agendas interfere with clinical decisions – 11%
Federal regulations, policies, procedures – 8%
“Most physicians choose medicine for reasons other than making money,” LocumTenens.com Vice President Will Drescher said. “Many don’t anticipate the nonclinical challenges of practicing medicine in today’s healthcare marketplace—and they’re less willing than previous generations of physicians to sacrifice other parts of their lives to do so.”
More than a third (36%) of respondents to the physician recruiting firm survey said they planned to change jobs within the next year and, including those, almost half (49%) said they planned to change jobs within 2 years. However, 42% said they had no plans to change jobs in the foreseeable future. (To see complete surgeon survey results, click here: http://www.locumtenens.com/surgeon-comp06 .)
Regardless of their frustration, more than two-thirds of respondents (69%) said they would choose medicine as a career path if they had it to do over again. This compares with respondents from other specialties as follows:
56% of obstetricians/gynecologists
57% of orthopedic surgeons
67% of anesthesiologists
70% of pediatricians, internists and radiologists
77% of psychiatrists
Regarding physician salaries, the LocumTenens.com survey results indicate the average general surgeon salary increased by almost 6%, from $236,676 in the physician recruiting firm’s 2005 survey to $250,200 in 2006. Physicians in the following specialties reported the largest increases over 2005 salaries:
Obstetrics & Gynecology – 19% increase
Family Practice – 12% increase
Non-invasive Cardiology – 10% increase
Gastroenterology – 8% increase
Neurology – 7% increase
While 19% of respondents to the LocumTenens.com survey said they don’t receive annual bonuses or incentives, 79% reported receiving bonuses of $20,000 or more annually.
Eighty-seven percent of survey participants were male, 80% were board-certified, and more than half (55%) had practiced medicine for more than 10 years. Only 30% of respondents said they had worked as a locum tenens provider, but another 65% said they would consider it.
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Founded in 1995, LocumTenens.com is a full-service physician/CRNA recruiting firm specializing in supplemental placement of anesthesiologists, radiologists, psychiatrists, surgeons and CRNAs with U.S. hospitals, medical groups and community health centers. LocumTenens.com is part of the Jackson Healthcare family of companies. To learn more, visit the company's web sites at http://www.locumtenens.com/media and http://www.crnajobs.com/.
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Contact:
Billie Wickstrom
888-268-2456
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LocumTenens.com, the agency | Call LocumTenens.com toll free at 800-930-0748 |
