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Mobley believes the percent of organizations adopting this approach to physician on-call pay will likely increase in light of the ever increasing on- call pay expenditures. Coupled with the number of specialties requiring on- call pay and the Office of Inspector General's September 2007 Advisory Opinion, which suggested that physician on-call pay should be related to the amount of call provided and the likelihood of being called in, the trend could continue.

The key variables impacting physician on-call pay rates, according to the survey, are the rates of local and national markets, frequency of the call coverage provided, and the likelihood of being called in for service.

The survey identifies a significant variance in the on-call rates paid by specialty; some specialties are far more likely to receive on-call pay than are others. "These data represent national market norms. Local market rates paid to physicians providing call coverage can vary," said Mobley, who notes that on-call pay is still an emerging trend.

She adds, "Some highly compensated specialties receive relatively low on-call rates of pay. These same specialties are often the ones that are not as likely to receive on-call pay. While physician on-call pay is still an evolving market trend, it appears that there is some relationship between the likelihood of being called in to work and the on-call rate paid."

The 2008 Physician On-call Pay Survey is now available for purchase. The cost is $300 for healthcare organizations and $550 for all other types of organizations. To order a copy of the survey, please visit the SullivanCotter website at http://www.sullivancotter.com or contact Ted Tackett, survey coordinator, at 313/ 872-1760, toll-free at 888/739-7039, or email tedtackett@sullivancotte
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