Surging demand for specialists spurs salary hikes

Practices and groups are having to pay, as well as deliver higher perks.

By Jay Greene, AMNews staff. Oct. 22/29, 2001.

Cardiologist Arthur Martin, MD, benefited from the surge in demand for cardiologists when he signed on with Southern Heart Center in Hattiesburg, Miss. Group practices from across the country were vying for his services, and he could afford to pick and choose.

"When I decided to leave my practice of 15 years, I had several priorities," said Dr. Martin, who had been practicing in the Cleveland area. "I wanted a larger practice that offered all aspects of cardiology. I wanted to be located at one hospital with one office attached to that hospital. At the same time, I wanted to increase my income and decrease my call schedule. I found it all here."

During the past 18 months, specialty physician salaries have jumped tremendously as practices and hospitals seek to meet greater patient demand for specialist services, say physician recruiters at Merritt, Hawkins & Associates and CompHealth. Primary care physician pay increased at a much slower rate.

"Demand is so high for specialists in terms of searches and changes in salary offers," said Mark Smith, executive vice president with Merritt, Hawkins. "Momentum has only intensified the past six months."

While partially driven by patient demand for specialists, other trends that are contributing to rising salaries and job opportunities are the medical needs of an aging population and the mid-1990s tilt toward primary care residency training that reduced the number of young specialists, especially radiologists and anesthesiologists, experts said. "There is a building demand for specialists, and there aren't enough. It's simply supply and demand," said Richard "Buz" Cooper, MD, a workforce expert at the Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. [...]