New Survey Shows Substantial Gains in Physician Compensation
A new survey by the trade association AMGA has found significant increases in compensation for various clinical specialties in 2024. The results of the AMGA 2025 Medical Group Compensation and Productivity Survey revealed a 4.9 percent compensation increase across the entire dataset.
In a press release, AMGA stated that participating healthcare organizations reported noteworthy compensation increases for most specialties. Primary care specialties led the way with a 5.7 percent increase, followed by increases of 4.0 percent for medical specialties, 3.7 percent for surgical specialties, and 5.1 percent for radiology, anesthesiology, and pathology specialties, as well as 4.3 percent for APCs (advanced practice clinicians).
With compensation gains outpacing productivity growth, providers experienced a 3.2 percent increase overall in the compensation-per-work RVU ratio. This increase represents the largest growth in the ratio since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the report.
Furthermore, median compensation increased from $311,666 in the 2024 Survey to $329,780 in the 2025 Survey, representing a 5.8 percent rise. Productivity increased at a rate of 2.1 percent.
“As the percentage of APCs to total provider workforce increases, health systems and medical groups are beginning to assess their approaches to compensation to ensure their plans’ philosophy, compensation plan mechanics, and their care models are in alignment,” commented Mike Coppola, MBA, coo of AMGA Consulting.
Professional net collections by individual providers were also part of the survey. This increased 5.9 percent this year within primary care, medical, and surgical specialties. The past year (2024) was a tumultuous time for medical groups navigating a complex payment system, the survey highlighted. While initially decreasing the CMS conversion rate for Medicare reimbursement to 3.4 percent, Congressional intervention added back 2.9 percent. The initial decline, however, forced health systems to explore various strategies to mitigate the impact, including renegotiation of non-government contracts.
“In today’s highly challenging healthcare provider marketplace, medical groups continue to feel inflationary pressure as they navigate rising costs,” Coppola said in a statement. “The limited growth in net collections combined with increasing compensation has created a scenario where over the past eight years (2017-2025 survey years), the average annual compensation change for top specialties outpaces the annual change in collections.”
AMGA’s analysis included data from over 184,000 providers across nearly 500 medical groups, encompassing almost 200 physicians, APCs, and other provider specialties.
