Hospital Expenditures for Physician On-Call Pay Rates Nea...( SullivanCotter Releases Results of...),Health

SullivanCotter Releases Results of Fourth Annual Physician On-Call Pay

Survey

DETROIT, July 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Sullivan, Cotter and Associates, Inc. has published its fourth annual survey of physician on-call pay rates and practices, the 2008 Physician On-call Pay Survey Report. The survey report, with data from 132 healthcare organizations nationwide, outlines physician on-call pay practices and rates paid for 33 physician specialty areas along with data reported for trauma centers and non-trauma centers.

Nearly two-thirds of the survey participants report that their physician on-call pay expenditures have increased within the past 12 months. From 2006 to 2008, the median expenditures reported by trauma centers for physician on-call pay have increased by 88%; the median expenditures in non-trauma centers increased by 91%.

The practices vary in terms of how a physician is compensated when called in to provide services. According to Kim Mobley, the survey director and principal of SullivanCotter, "In order to secure the required call coverage, organizations may have to supplement traditional professional fees with subsidies for unassigned/under insured patients, fee-for-service payments, flat hourly rates and malpractice subsidies." These subsidies may also apply to the follow-up care to an unassigned patient.

The majority (86%) of the survey participants report providing on-call pay to non-employed physicians with admitting privileges; about one-half (54%) report providing on-call pay to their employed physicians. The majority (91%) of the survey participants report that the physician on-call pay is funded solely by the hospital; however, eight percent report that the medical group is also providing some of the funding.

Not all physicians receive on-call pay. According to Mobley, another emerging trend is pay for "excess call only", provided only after a specified number of shifts or hours
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