The Perpetual (Upward) Shift of the Median: How Physician Compensation is Increasing in an Age of Decreasing Reimbursement
- March 15, 2014
Certain trends that are occurring in healthcare in terms of the application and use of benchmark data are leading to increases in physician compensation. Increases in compensation based solely on benchmarks rather than alternative methodologies are likely to undergo more scrutiny as hospitals experience more pressure to lower costs. This paper examines the merits and consequences of the significant focus on the median compensation per wRVU ratio to establishing a compensation model and its long-term feasibility. It also presents some clear modifications that can be made when developing wRVU-based compensation models that will address the issues of using benchmark data to derive compensation that aligns with productivity levels and general market trends.
