A new survey released by the Healthcare Information Management and Systems Society (HIMSS) revealed that most health IT professionals received a salary increase in 2013.
HIMSS surveyed 1,160 members and two-thirds (71.6 percent) of respondents indicated that they received a salary increase over the past year. The increase was approximately 4.1 percent among all respondents. The average salary in this sample of 1,126 healthcare IT professionals is $113,269, with the media being $95,000.
Those in executive and senior management approximately earned $181,435 and $161,255 respectively, with executive leadership getting a 6.10 percent salary increase from 2012. Senior management got a 4.82 percent salary increase.
The survey also revealed that only less than half of respondents reported that they received a bonus (46.8 percent). Those who did receive a bonus got 3-4 percent of annual salary and 23.7 percent reported that their bonus was more than 10 percent of their salary.
The 2013 HIMSS Compensation Survey also looked at regions, with those in the Mid-Atlantic (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania) earning more than in any other part of the country. Those in the Pacific and in New England were next. The Southeast Central part of the country, including Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kentucky, were ranked on the lower end of the scale.
Interestingly, longevity did not equal more money. Those who had been at their organization longer (20 years or more) on average earned less than those who had been there 15 to 19 years and 10 to 14 years.
Also, the survey found that consulting jobs had lucrative salaries and lucrative raises (second most for both). The lowest raises and salary came from those who worked at a payer and an ambulatory facility.
