MGMA: Experienced physicians migrating to Fla., Texas; medical residents head for N.C., Ill.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Physicians getting jobs out of residency reported an increase in median salaries from last year in emergency medicine, infectious disease and hematology/oncology, according to the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) Physician Placement Starting Salary Survey: 2009 Report Based on 2008 Data. The report provides data on starting salary, signing bonuses and other benefits for physicians. The biggest increases in starting salaries between 2007 and 2008 occurred in anesthesiology, noninvasive cardiology, emergency medicine and neurology. Except in surgery, starting salaries were highest for physicians entering hospital-department practices. MGMA conducted the survey in collaboration with the National Association of Physician Recruiters (NAPR).

Interestingly, the survey found that experienced physicians migrated to Florida and Texas, while those directly out of residency favored North Carolina and Illinois. Several states reported fewer physician placements than relocations, including Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The largest increase in placements between 2006 and 2008 occurred in Virginia and Florida. Experienced physicians reported more relocations than physicians hired out of residency or fellowship.

MGMA member and NAPR Immediate Past President Martin Osinski of American Medical Consultants speculates that these migration patterns involve many variables. “Practicing physicians appear to relocate to Florida and Texas for a variety of reasons. Those states don’t have state income tax, which could add a significant amount to a physician’s income — especially now, when physicians experience consistent financial burdens from managed care and reduced Medicare/Medicaid payments.”

The survey found little disparity among signing bonuses for physicians a year out of residency or fellowship and all other physicians. Experienced physicians in primary care, cardiology and general surgery reported similar signing bonuses despite their years in practice.

MGMA produces the Physician Placement Starting Salary Survey Report annually by the Medical Group Management Association. This year, MGMA added a new section for non-physician providers with data on first-year compensation, paid relocation expenses, vacation time and weeks of paid time off for continuing medical education.

Source: Medical Group Management Association