Hospital Physician Compensation Plan Common Issues

Simply put, physician compensation models are a leading cause of discontent between hospitals and physician groups. If not dealt with properly, hospitals will suffer due to inflated costs, physicians will grow unhappy and exhibit poor performance, and ultimately, patients will lose the most.

Many new doctors have some common issues with physician consulting that can be addressed easily by healthcare management. Follow a couple easy tips to smooth over compensation talks with new hires.

• Explain how compensation changes over time- Many compensation plans for new doctors involve a fixed salary for the first couple years. If it changes to productivity based after a certain amount of time, give physicians an insight into what they can be expecting during this transition and how other doctors have done financially down the road.


• Explain how profits are shared among the group- Doctors should know how income is distributed among the physician group. By knowing what to expect down the road, a young doctor will be more motivated to perform better.


• Describe how quality and performance relate to compensation- Many times quality, patient satisfaction, and performance based bonuses are used as incentives for doctors that are exceeding certain standards. Make sure physicians understand the difference between these bonus programs and the criteria that are used to evaluate the doctor competence in these areas.

Determining the best way to provide physician compensation is usually complex as different hospitals have different needs; therefore, it is important to use medical consultants that can accurately and efficiently determine the physician compensation plan that will benefit all parties the most. Contact us here to learn more about how we can help streamline your physician compensation program.