Physician Pay Cuts Add Stress to an Already Burned Out Field

Doctors are feeling more pressure three years after the pandemic, because of inflation, staff shortages and high rates of work-related burnout.   

These pressures are leading many doctors to consider side gigs, early retirement or other positions. 

Effect of High Price of Inflation 

Inflation soared to 9.1 percent in June 2022, a 40-year high last seen in 1981, according to the Consumer Price Index.     

High inflation leads to increased overhead costs for labor and supplies, both crucial to running a medical practice.  

Many smaller practices can’t absorb the higher costs and may need to close or join a larger health system to survive. 

According to Amit Phull, M.D., Doximity’s medical director and senior vice president of strategy, “With our survey of the physician population, we see that the vast majority of them, about 86% of them, report feeling overworked, with more than a third of them actually reporting they’re considering early retirement.”

Salary Drop

The average salary for a doctor dropped by 2.4% in 2022 after an increase of 3.8% in 2021.   In addition, Medicare payments for doctors will drop by 2% this year.  

Medicare physician payment declined 22% from 2001 to 2021, when adjusted for inflation according to the American Medical Association.    

About two-thirds of physicians (66.7%) said they are considering an employment change, as reported in a recent Doximity survey.

Gender Gap in Pay

For women, the economic effects are even more troubling.  The gender pay gap on average was about 26% in 2022 down from 28% in 2021.  

On average, women physicians earn nearly $110,000 less than male physicians, even when salaries were controlled for specialty, location and years of experience, Doximity found.  

Highest and Lowest Paid 

The 20 specialties with the highest average annual compensation in 2022 tend to be surgical and procedural specialties treating adult patients.

Neurosurgery comes out on top ($788,313), followed by Thoracic surgery (706,755) and Orthopedic surgery ($624,043).  

The lowest paid included Pediatrics and Primary Care doctors.  Family medicine doctors had an average pay of $273,040 and internal medicine specialists brought in $293,894 in 2022. 

Overall, compensation in 2022 was down or stable for most specialties with a few exceptions.  For example, emergency medicine physicians saw an increase of 6.2% in 2022, probably a result of higher demand.  

Doctor Shortages  

Primary Care and Psychiatrists topped the list for doctors most needed.  The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) predicts a shortage of up to 48,000 primary care physicians by 2034.    According to the AAMC, the U.S. had too few psychiatrists even before the pandemic with the shortage expected to become worse, especially in rural areas. 

Long-term Effects

1. Too few physicians mean longer wait times for appointments and a lower quality of time spent with an overworked and stressed staff.
2. Many doctors may need to join corporate style healthcare systems which would lower the quality of personalized care for many patients.
3. More team approaches using nurse practitioners and physician assistants will help fill the gaps in care.
4. Many experts are concerned that the standard of care nationwide may suffer over time. 

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