This AMA Policy Research Perspective analyzes trends in physician compensation models from 2014 to 2024 using data from the AMA Physician Practice Benchmark Survey. Findings reveal a marked shift toward blended compensation models, with a growing prevalence of salary, productivity and bonuses in physician compensation structures.
In 2024, 70.5% of physicians received compensation from salary (+9% since 2014), 55% from productivity (+2%) and 39% from bonuses (+9%). Blended compensation methods dominate, with 60.8% of physicians receiving compensation from more than one method compared to 51% in 2014.
Over the decade, there has been a decline in the proportion of physicians paid solely based on productivity (-5%) or practice financial performance (-4%), and an increase of +10% in those primarily compensated by salary, often with bonuses and/or productivity as secondary components. On average, salary was 58.2% of physician compensation, and productivity was still significant at 28.1%.
This analysis also highlights differences across employment status, gender, specialty and practice type. Owners received less salary-based and more productivity-based or financial performance-based compensation than employed physicians in 2024, though salary shares increased for both groups from 2014 to 2024. In 2024, female physicians had a larger share of compensation from salary-based models than male physicians, while male physicians had a greater share of compensation from productivity-based models.
Across specialties, salary-based compensation dominated, though surgical specialists relied more on productivity-based models. Physicians who worked in hospitals or multispecialty practices tended to have higher salary shares than those in single-specialty practices.
Overall, physician compensation models have become increasingly blended, balancing financial stability with incentives for productivity, and they reflect broader changes in employment practices and organizational structures in health care over the past decade.
Download the report (PDF).
How physician compensation is changing
Physician Practice Benchmark Survey
The Physician Practice Benchmark Survey reports the latest findings about shifts in medical practice ownership, telehealth use, participation in alternative payment models, medical liability claim frequency and physician compensation methods. Find additional reports and learn more.
