Medaxiom Blog

You’ve undoubtedly heard the expression that “culture eats strategy for breakfast,” credited to Peter Drucker (perhaps incorrectly but that’s another blog topic!). After decades working in healthcare, I’ve learned the same is true for physician compensation. This was recently reinforced for me while listening to the gifted presenters and leaders at ACC.24 in Atlanta.

The 2023 Cardiovascular Provider Compensation and Production Survey Report, which published right before CV Transforum Fall’23, provided much needed reassurance that the field of cardiology has entered a more stable path after years of turmoil surrounding the pandemic and the “Great Resignation.” Creating the report is a massive team effort and the entire MedAxiom team was relieved to see that metrics across all of cardiology were relatively stable between 2021 and 2022 – a welcome state of being after so much change.

RoundTable Strategic Solutions powers MedAxiom Talent Solutions, which connects healthcare organizations with seasoned cardiovascular experts backed by the entire MedAxiom team.

March 2023 marks my 11th year with MedAxiom. During this tenure, I’ve had the privilege of being the lead author on MedAxiom’s Cardiovascular Provider Compensation and Production Survey, including this past year which was its 10th Anniversary Edition. As a consultant now for over a decade, I’ve been witness to many changes in cardiology, with one significant being the deep subspecialization of the provider workforce.

This year marks a decade of publishing MedAxiom’s Cardiovascular Provider Compensation and Production Survey. Be on the lookout for the 2022 report, which will be published in the coming days. As the primary author of the survey, I can honestly say it’s been a labor of love for the MedAxiom team. The feedback on the value of the data we get from our membership keeps us motivated and energized.

Like perennial flowers appearing in the spring, each and every year the thorny issue of physician slowdown breaks into the top five concerns for cardiovascular group and program leaders. Rarely does a cardiologist practice at full throttle and then simply retire on a chosen date. Typically, he or she will reduce day and/or evening responsibilities to extend the ability to continue practicing. While this may seem like a positive approach, given the backdrop of projected physician shortages (Figure 1), it presents significant challenges for program leadership.

MedAxiom’s recently released 2019 Cardiovascular Provider Compensation and Production Survey report unveiled heart failure insights for the first time. Heart failure physicians are still very rare in the cardiology workforce, making up just 2 percent of the total (Figure 1). For our survey, the designation of heart failure as the subspecialty type is made by the group responding. However, the Heart Failure Society of America corroborates how small this population of physicians still is, listing around 200 total fellows among its membership. Likewise, the American College of Cardiology includes 792 cardiologists who have received fellowships through its certification process, with another 105 currently in training.

Trends in the Data For the fifth year in a row and for the seventh year out 10 overall cardiology compensation increased from the previous year, with the median now sitting at $586,888 (see Figure 1). This despite many predicting that incomes would come down, including my audience at the Spring CV Transforum where data from the 2019 MedAxiom survey were first debuted. When polled nearly 70 percent predicted that total compensation for cardiologists went down in 2019 (based on 2018 data), with nearly identical results whether considering employed cardiologists or those in private practice.

Peer surveys, like the MedAxiom Cardiovascular Provider Compensation and Production Survey, annually publish a measure showing compensation per work Relative Value Unit (wRVU). Table 1 below shows data from the most recent MedAxiom report for cardiology. This statistic is perhaps the most misunderstood of the published compensation data and, as a result, is often misused in contract negotiations.