The Rheumatologist
COVID-19 NewsACR Convergence
  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed
  • Home
  • Conditions
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis
    • SLE (Lupus)
    • Crystal Arthritis
      • Gout Resource Center
    • Spondyloarthritis
    • Osteoarthritis
    • Soft Tissue Pain
    • Scleroderma
    • Vasculitis
    • Systemic Inflammatory Syndromes
    • Guidelines
  • Resource Centers
    • Axial Spondyloarthritis Resource Center
    • Gout Resource Center
    • Psoriatic Arthritis Resource Center
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis Resource Center
    • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Resource Center
  • Drug Updates
    • Biologics & Biosimilars
    • DMARDs & Immunosuppressives
    • Topical Drugs
    • Analgesics
    • Safety
    • Pharma Co. News
  • Professional Topics
    • Ethics
    • Legal
    • Legislation & Advocacy
    • Career Development
      • Certification
      • Education & Training
    • Awards
    • Profiles
    • President’s Perspective
    • Rheuminations
    • Interprofessional Perspective
  • Practice Management
    • Billing/Coding
    • Quality Assurance/Improvement
    • Workforce
    • Facility
    • Patient Perspective
    • Electronic Health Records
    • Apps
    • Information Technology
    • From the College
    • Multimedia
      • Audio
      • Video
  • Resources
    • Issue Archives
    • ACR Convergence
      • Gout Resource Center
      • Axial Spondyloarthritis Resource Center
      • Psoriatic Arthritis
      • Abstracts
      • Meeting Reports
      • ACR Convergence Home
    • American College of Rheumatology
    • ACR ExamRheum
    • Research Reviews
    • ACR Journals
      • Arthritis & Rheumatology
      • Arthritis Care & Research
      • ACR Open Rheumatology
    • Rheumatology Image Library
    • Treatment Guidelines
    • Rheumatology Research Foundation
    • Events
  • About Us
    • Mission/Vision
    • Meet the Authors
    • Meet the Editors
    • Contribute to The Rheumatologist
    • Subscription
    • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Search
You are here: Home / Articles / Rheumatologists’ Pay Increases for 3rd Year in a Row

Rheumatologists’ Pay Increases for 3rd Year in a Row

October 8, 2018 • By Richard Quinn

  • Tweet
  • Email
Print-Friendly Version / Save PDF

The average annual salary for rheumatologists has climbed to $257,000 over the past year—and is up from $209,000 just three years ago, according to a Medscape survey.

You Might Also Like
  • The Pay Disparity: Rheumatologist Pay Is Up, but It’s Still a Lower-Paid Specialty
  • What Rheumatologists Are Paid
  • Medscape Surveys Show Rheumatologists Happiest at Home but Concerned about Pay and Other Professional Issues
Also By This Author
  • Sjögren’s Awareness Month: Educate Patients, Families, Caregivers

The 2018 Medscape Physician Compensation Report still has rheumatologist pay in the bottom third of all surveyed specialties. But the upward trend line continues to show that progress is being made, says Anne Bass, MD, chair of the ACR’s Committee on Rheumatology Training and Workforce Issues.

ad goes here:advert-1
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

“I’m definitely heartened,” she says. “We have, as we all know, workforce challenges ahead of us. We need to continue to attract residents into our field. And actually, the demand to go into the field has increased over the past couple of years. … So I’m very heartened, because medical school isn’t getting any cheaper, and if you come out of school with a lot of debt, that definitely plays into training choices.”

The fields that top Medscape’s annual survey—which queried more than 20,000 physicians across nearly 30 specialties—continue to be procedure based. Plastic surgery (avg. $501,000), orthopedics (avg. $497,000) and cardiology (avg. $423,000) were the top three specialties for the second year in a row. At the same time, cognitive fields continue to be the lowest-paid specialties. Public health and preventative medicine had the lowest salaries (avg. $199,000 each), followed by pediatrics (avg. $212,000) and diabetes and endocrinology (avg. $212,000 each).

ad goes here:advert-2
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

“The healthcare payment system is very much procedure based, very much biased toward paying proceduralists,” Dr. Bass says. “Half an hour in the operating room gets you an awful lot more income than half an hour with a patient.”

Another issues for rheumatology is the gender disparity in compensation. Male specialists earn about 36% more than female specialists ($358,000 vs. $263,000), according to Medscape. And because a majority of rheumatologists entering the field have been women in recent years, that has a disproportionate effect on the specialty.

Overall, the healthcare payment system also favors inpatient specialties, because inpatient visits receive higher reimbursement.

ad goes here:advert-3
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

“The outpatient fields—endocrine, rheumatology, certainly pediatrics, allergy, immunology—those tend to be the least well reimbursed,” Dr. Bass says.

Looking for Change
The ACR continues to lobby for compensation reform that more fairly accounts for the work of cognitive physicians, such as rheumatologists.

“I think our legislative outreach group has been very, very strong and very important in directing the legislative agenda around (the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015), around infusion medicines, around visa issues for foreign medical graduates,” Dr. Bass says. “Our organization has been quite active and has maintained long standing relationships with legislators who are involved in the issues.”

Pages: 1 2 | Single Page

Filed Under: Professional Topics Tagged With: Compensation, pay, rheumatologist, Salary

You Might Also Like:
  • The Pay Disparity: Rheumatologist Pay Is Up, but It’s Still a Lower-Paid Specialty
  • What Rheumatologists Are Paid
  • Medscape Surveys Show Rheumatologists Happiest at Home but Concerned about Pay and Other Professional Issues
  • Rheumatology & The Gender Pay Gap

Meeting Abstracts

Browse and search abstracts from the ACR Convergence and ACR/ARP Annual Meetings going back to 2012.

Visit the Abstracts site »

ACR Convergence

Don’t miss rheumatology’s premier scientific meeting for anyone involved in research or the delivery of rheumatologic care or services.

Visit the ACR Convergence site »

Simple Tasks

Learn more about the ACR’s public awareness campaign and how you can get involved. Help increase visibility of rheumatic diseases and decrease the number of people left untreated.

Visit the Simple Tasks site »

The Rheumatologist newsmagazine reports on issues and trends in the management and treatment of rheumatic diseases. The Rheumatologist reaches 11,500 rheumatologists, internists, orthopedic surgeons, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, and other healthcare professionals who practice, research, or teach in the field of rheumatology.

About Us / Contact Us / Advertise / Privacy Policy / Terms of Use / Cookie Preferences

  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed

Copyright © 2006–2023 American College of Rheumatology. All rights reserved.

ISSN 1931-3268 (print)
ISSN 1931-3209 (online)