special report: joe kopcha

Salary Survey

according to the National Bureau of economic

Research, the Great Recession ended in june

2009, but the recovery has been slow to mate-

rialize. Unemployment hover around 8%, and

many americans continue to struggle financially.

however, health care is one of the strongest sec-

tors of the economy, a fact that is reflected in the

more than 7,000 responses to our annual salary

survey. on the whole, nurse practitioners and

physician assistants reported higher salaries than

last year and strong confidence that such growth

will continue as their careers progress.How are you doing?

practice areaFor the third consecutive year, the highest percentage of NP (Table 1) and PA (Table 2) respondents were family/adult medicine practitioners. The only significant change from last year’s survey was psychiatry replacing oncology/hematol-ogy at fifth place on the NP list. The order of the PA list remained virtually the same. Salaries were higher in all practice areas listed, with the largest gain seen among pediatric NPs.

experienceOnce again, NP salaries are not significantly affected by experience beyond the first five years of practice (Table 3). PAs see a small but steady growth in income through the first 20 years of employment (Table 4).

table 1. average Np salary by practice areapractice area response

percentaverage

salary 2011average

salary 2012

Family/adult medicine 34.7% $85,974 $90,629

Women’s health 9.0% $77,282 $82,331

pediatrics 6.4% $78,390 $83,937

Geriatric medicine 4.1% $92,503 $97,397

psychiatry 4.1% Na $96,631

table 2. average pa salary by practice areapractice area response

percentaverage

salary 2011average

salary 2012

Family/adult medicine 28% $89,044 $90,460

emergency medicine 9.3% $107,904 $112,825

orthopedics 8.8% $100,265 $105,161

Urgent care 5.1% $98,331 $99,050

Dermatology 4.7% $110,204 $113,062

table 3. average Np salary by experience levelYears of

experienceresponse percent

average salary 2011

average salary 2012

<5 29.3% $84,944 $88,200

6-10 20.1% $89,834 $94,157

11-15 22.8% $91,632 $96,011

16-20 13.3% $90,693 $93,165

>20 14.5% $88,528 $92,243

table 4. average pa salary by experience levelYears of

experienceresponse percent

average salary 2011

average salary 2012

<5 33.7% $88,657 $91,512

6-10 22.2% $98,031 $100,221

11-15 17.1% $100,186 $101,603

16-20 8.5% $100,017 $104,955

>20 18.5% $101,916 $104,011

40 the cliNical aDvisoR • may 2013 • www.clinicaladvisor.com

salarY surveY 2013

table 5. average Np salary by practice settingpractice setting percent

responseaverage

salary 2011average

salary 2012

office 24.7% $84,568 $88,698

clinic–standalone 17.1% $85,418 $90,997

clinic–hospital 16.3% $93,421 $95,568

hospital 14.1% $98,288 $103,043

Walk-in/ambulatory 4.5% $85,585 $88,663

table 6. average pa salary by practice settingpractice setting percent

responseaverage

salary 2011average

salary 2012

hospital 22.6% $101,568 $106,670

office 22.3% $91,833 $94,846

clinic–standalone 19.9% $93,023 $94,976

clinic–hospital 15.9% $95,720 $100,124

Walk-in/ambulatory 4.0% $92,052 $95,876

sexWomen continue to make up the majority of NP and PA respondents (92.0% and 67.5%, respectively). Some progress was made in narrowing the discrepancy in pay between male and female clinicians, but the differences remain stark. The average male NP earned $104,845 in 2012 ($100,316 in 2011), compared with $94,416 for a female ($87,393 in 2011). For PAs, the average male brought home $109,500 in 2012 ($105,902 in 2011), and women earned $93,365 ($89,728 in 2011).

Geographic regionMore then one-third of survey respondents reside in the South (Figures 1 and 2). PAs in the West continue to report the highest annual pay. For the first time since this survey began, average salaries of NPs and PAs in all regions climbed above $90,000.

practice settingThe distribution of NPs and PAs by practice setting appears entrenched. Very little movement has been reported by respondents over the past three years. Office-based NPs (Table 5) and PAs (Table 6) remain well-represented in our survey, but hospital-based clinicians earned higher salaries. Practice location

Urban clinicians continue to earn more than their suburban and rural counterparts, but the gap is narrowing. The largest location-based salary gain in this year’s survey was seen among suburban NPs. The breakdown of NP respondents remained stable, with 40.6% describing their work environment as urban (average salary $93,688, up from $91,295 in 2011), 35.8% as suburban (average salary $93,105, up from $87,561 in 2011), and 23.6% as rural (average salary $89,453, up from $85,579 in 2011). Among PAs, 39.3% worked in an urban setting (average salary $100,190, up from $96,087 in 2011), 41.2% worked in a suburban setting (average salary $98,067, up from $94,734 in 2011), and 19.6% worked in a rural setting (average salary $96,608, up from $95,042 in 2011).

FiGure 2. average pa salary by geographic regionFiGure 1. average Np salary by geographic region

south39.0% response

$91,361 average salary

south33.6% response

$99,365 average salary

Midwest22.3% response$90,534 average salary

Midwest22.0% response$95,779 average salary

Northeast23.8% response$92,084 average salary

Northeast23.2% response$96,060 average salary

West14.9% response$98,770 average salary

West21.2% response$103,906 average salary

www.clinicaladvisor.com • the cliNical aDvisoR • may 2013 43

salarY surveY 2013

Job motilityThe proportion of NPs (Figure 3) and PAs (Figure 4) who work at more than one location was nearly identical to what was shown in the previous surveys. Roughly one out of every three respondents travels from job to job throughout the week.

History and the futureDespite an uncertain economic climate, clinicians are optimistic about their financial future. Just over 45% of NPs (Figure 5) and 48% of PAs (Figure 6) reported an increase in income over 2011.

When asked about their expectations for next year, more than 95% of NPs (Figure 7) and PAs (Figure 8) anticipate that their income would stay the same or increase.

FiGure 3. Do you work at multiple locations (Nps)?

FiGure 5. Did you earn more money this year (Nps)?

FiGure 7. Do you expect to earn more money next year (Nps)?

FiGure 8. Do you expect to earn more money next year (pas)?

FiGure 6. Did you earn more money this year (pas)?

FiGure 4. Do you work at multiple locations (pas)?

37.7%

45.0%

47.4% 53.2%

48.1%

13.4%

4.1% 4.9%

14.8%

37.5%

62.3%

41.6%

48.5% 41.9%

37.1%

62.5%

yes

No

more

less

same

more

less

same

more

less

same

more

less

same

yes

No

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salarY surveY 2013

Weekly outputAs in previous years, the 2013 survey included questions designed to provide some insight into the typical workweek of our readers. No discernible difference was noted in the amount of time NPs and PAs spend on the job. Approximately 80% of all respondents work between 30 and 50 hours per week.

There was some diversity with regard to the number of patients seen per week, but the NP (Figure 9) and PA (Figure 10) breakdowns remained similar.

congratulationsThe randomly chosen winner of the $50 American Express Gift Card is Tamara Love, a nurse practitioner in Sanford, N.C. Thank you to everyone who took the time to participate in this always enlightening project. n

Mr. Kopcha is the editor of The Clinical Advisor.

Finally, prescription-writing behavior stayed consisted across all disciplines. Approximately two thirds of NPs (Figure 11) and PAs (Figure 12) write fewer than 75 prescriptions per week.

FiGure 9. Number of patients seen per week (Nps) FiGure 10. Number of patients seen per week (pas)

FiGure 12. Number of prescriptions written per week (pas)

FiGure 11. Number of prescriptions written per week (Nps)

19.5%

24.3%

17.2%19.4%

25.5%24.3%

36.8% 35.1%

30.1%26.2%

35.1% 29.4%

14.8% 9.9%

6.5% 9.3%

7.3% 10.1%

3.6% 6.0%

3.6% 6.0%

>125

101-125

76 -100

51-75

26-50

≤25

>125

101-125

76 -100

51-75

26-50

≤25

201-250+

126-200

76-125

26-75

0-25

201-250+

126-200

76-125

26-75

0-25

48 the cliNical aDvisoR • may 2013 • www.clinicaladvisor.com