Physician executives are in the driver's seat as healthcare reform redefines the ways leadership roles are conceived and compensated, according to the new 2016 Physician Leadership Compensation Survey from the American Association for Physician Leadership and Cejka Executive Search.

The poll collected self-reported compensation data from 2,353 physician leaders in July 2016 based on 2015 total compensation, including salary, bonuses, incentive payments, research stipends, honoraria and distribution of profits.

It finds that the total median compensation for physicians in leadership in 2016 is $350,000 – a gain of 8 percent since the last survey in 2013. 

One group in particular far outpaced those gains, however: chief information officers and chief medical information officers, whose average 2016 compensation of $372,500 is up 18 percent from three years ago.

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That increase could be explained by the roles' shift in focus and growth in importance as they move away from EHR implementation and toward ensuring the usability of data to support preventative care at the individual provider level and risk-based accountable care at the enterprise-level.

"Clearly, there is perceived value in having a physician leader drive these initiatives and facilities are willing to compensate accordingly," said Paul Esselman, Cejka Executive Search's managing director, in a statement.

Other physician C-suite roles that saw gains: CEO, with an average of $437,500 (up 7 percent) and chief medical officer ($388,000, up 6 percent). Chief quality/patient safety officer salaries remained unchanged at $375,000.

Interestingly, some of the highest-paid physician executives – earning, on average, $499,000 –  were not CEOs. Instead they served in emerging C-suite positions such as chief strategy officer, chief transformational officer, chief innovation officer, chief integration officer and physician-in-chief.

"Physicians in these transformative roles are often tasked with 'connecting the dots' across the organization and care continuum to achieve the greater efficiency and effectiveness of care required by newer reimbursement models, including population health management and accountable care," added Joyce Tucker, Cejka Executive Search's managing principal.

Beyond the C-suite, the highest three-year gain in compensation was 26 percent for physician leaders focused on clinical initiatives serving as president of the medical staff or medical director, assistant or associate, showing the importance of clinical quality leaders as outcomes are increasingly tied to reimbursement.

"Given healthcare reform and the continued attention on costs, including executive compensation, we don't expect physician leader compensation to return to pre-recession growth rates anytime soon," said Esselman. "However, there are emerging roles in response to the shift toward value-based care that provide physician leaders with significantly greater opportunities for earnings, as well as strategic input and organizational influence."   

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