Electronic Health Reporter

In AMGA’s newly released 36^th annual 2023 Medical Group Compensation and Productivity Survey, medical groups and healthcare organizations report a 6.1% increase in primary care compensation, compared to 1.5% and 1.6% increases for medical and surgical specialties, respectively.

Primary care also had more significant increases in work relative value units (wRVUs) than other specialties.

“We’re seeing that the compensation levels for primary care have increased this past year, greater than in other specialty types, which in our opinion, is evidence that the E/M coding changes that CMS [Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services] put into effect in 2021 are now being reflected in organizations’ compensation plans,” said Elizabeth Siemsen, AMGA Consulting director. “Survey results indicate that the gains for primary care are evident as the smoke clears from the slow transition to the utilization of new wRVU weights for compensation calculation and the volume swings of the pandemic.”

With data on more than 190 specialties included, the 2023 survey reveals that compared to the compensation increases in primary care, overall physician specialty types show relatively nominal increases in compensation.

Data in the 2023 report indicate a more stable trend for physicians and other providers than seen over the past few years. The overall increase in median wRVUs increased by 2.9% compared to the prior year. Primary care physician wRVUs account for the bulk of that, with an increase of 4.0%, while medical and surgical specialties were limited to 1.7% and 1.4%, respectively. Additionally, more groups reported wRVU data in the 2023 survey. Finally, 2022 was a full year without the pandemic causing a significant impact on volume.

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