The most relevant data within the various physician compensation surveys is the data from participants which most closely resemble your particular circumstances or that data cut that represents the competitive market for the physician specialty. Answering the question, “Where could this physician or specialty obtain a position if they did not work at your institution?” will assist in zeroing in on the appropriate survey tables to use for comparative purposes.
In performing comparative analyses for my clients I begin with the “All Participant” survey reports, as these reports will typically have the largest number of participants and a standard deviation closer to the mean survey result. From the “All Participant” data I gather the data from the “All Participants” survey reports for the geographic and demographic classification of the particular area. If there is wide variation in the results of these survey reports I will then look at further cuts of the survey reports such as, weeks worked, hours worked, single versus multispecialty, etc. Finally, adding any available localized data or special circumstances will serve to customize the survey results to the situation being analyzed.
It is very crucial, in appropriately comparing your results to the survey(s), to know how the data in the survey reports was collected, calculated and reported. Additionally, the larger the sample sizes the less likely that the data will be as volatile from year to year. The results for specialties with small sample sizes should be used with extreme caution. The survey results should be used as guideposts and not as a table to determine one’s salary akin to the IRS tax tables.
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