When it comes to physician compensation, there are many different elements that ought to be considered to ensure that compensation is allocated in as far of a way as possible. There are several ways that you can ensure that your compensation is fair throughout the interview and decision-making process. In this post, we examine what a physician compensation model is, explore the benefits that you can enjoy with fair, software-based physician compensation solutions, and review different ways that you can assure adequate and fair compensation throughout the interview process.
What is a physician compensation model?
A physician compensation model is a framework that enables physicians to be paid fairly and effectively no matter what form of payment they take. There are many different types of compensation models for physicians, including:
- Pay-per-performance model. This type of model is gaining traction and is extremely effective at preserving the incentive for providers to uphold preventative wellness as much as possible, and offers patients a more consistent and higher level of care. These models often include bonuses outside of base pay, which are determined by the success and health of the clients.
- Equal share pay model. This model is more commonly found among shared practices and groups of physicians and allows for every provider to take an equal amount of pay out of the original revenue rate after all expenses have been covered for the month. This is less common and could lead to inadequate reimbursement and payment for physicians over time.
- Straight pay salary model. This is commonly encountered in larger medical organizations and hospitals across the nation and offers providers confidence inconsistent amounts of payment that are not determined by organizational revenue. This model is generally fair and consistent, however, it can limit the incentivization of providers to seek preventative wellness measures and higher levels of care for their patients after their already-heavy caseload.
Protecting your right to fair pay throughout the interview process
When you are undergoing the interview and job selection process, it can feel overwhelming. You likely are dealing with a high amount of debt, high-pressure selection processes, and an overall feeling of uncertainty that you’ll be able to be compensated at the rate that you need in order to satisfy your daily expenses. There are many steps that you can take to assure your ability to earn fair compensation as a physician in any healthcare setting, which we’ve outlined below:
Calculate and determine your expenses
A strong first step to ensure that you walk away from the interview with a suitable rate of compensation is to first outline your needed expenses and expected revenue. This is an important step in the pre-interview process and can help you to set adequate expectations and gain the confidence you need to communicate your needs in the interview process. Often, healthcare organizations are willing to invest more into high-quality staffers, even if you’ve just recently graduated. Coming prepared, confident, and ready to engage can instill confidence in your interviewing team, and help them to more readily make their decision in accordance with your payment preference.
Prepare ahead of time for the negotiation process
Often, new graduates and seasoned physicians alike may not be up to date on what average physicians in their specialty and status are earning. This can be a point of weakness in the negotiation process, and it is important to anticipate and prepare for this ahead of time. Using sites such as Indeed.com and Glassdoor can help you to estimate your quantitative worth for compensation purposes, and go in with strong negotiation discussion points for the interview.
Review every agreement
As you navigate the interview and onboarding process, be sure to review every single agreement, document, and requirement that the organization is asking of you. Often, lost pay or unexpected tasks can hide in the fine print of engagement documents, and it is important to be prepared.
Practice Owners: Is optimizing your physician compensation system worth it?
While there are additional forms and combinations of these models that are available for providers to take advantage of, they are all oriented toward the same goal: provide adequate compensation for practitioners that inspires them to consistently provide higher levels of care for patients.
No matter what compensation model you choose, investing in a software-based payment solution can unlock new opportunities for your business, and ensure that your providers receive adequate, fair, and routine compensation. There are many other benefits that you can enjoy when you choose a software-based solution to automate and regulate your compensation practices, outlined below:
Enhanced ability for consistency and compliance and field regulations
There are several governmental and field-based regulatory bodies that have different compliance requirements that your health organization must abide by as it relates to physician compensation. Doing the research needed and manually updating your policies and procedures is extremely time-consuming, runs a high risk for human error, and is generally less effective. The IRS, the Fraud and Abuse institute, and the famous Stark Law are all guiding regulations and requirements as it relates to physician compensation. Investing in a centralized compensation solution saves incredible time, money, and team effort, allowing you to direct your attention to higher-level tasks.
Less margin for human error in the compensation calculation
Physician compensation is complex and extremely nuanced. Because of this, manual calculation processes can be filled with pitfalls and potential for error, reducing the provider’s trust and overall perception of the organization, as well as opening the organization up to legal action or professional complaint. Your team of providers deserves to have confidence in clear, concise, and collaborative approaches when it comes to compensation, no matter what model you choose.
Additional insights surrounding productivity and performance
Using a software solution for physician compensation in your healthcare organization can enable you to take advantage of additional data and insights. With software such as FeePulse’s end-to-end solution, you can get real-time data around productivity, patient retention, and more. This is especially useful if you are employing a pay-per-performance model, or are looking to create new benefits programs to further incentivize your team members.