A study published in Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research examined the wage gap between executives, physicians and nonclinical workers.
Researchers identified CEO and chief financial officer compensation at 22 major U.S. medical centers from U.S. News & World Report's 2016 to2017 Hospital Honor Roll List. They pulled data on four health systems with notable orthopedic departments from IRS 990 forms from 2005, 2010 and 2015. Researchers then reviewed national mean compensation data on orthopedic surgeons, pediatricians and registered nurses. They also used data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on healthcare industry worker numbers and wages from 2005 to 2015.
Here's what they found:
1. From 2005 to 2015, mean major nonprofit medical center CEO compensation increased 93 percent, from $1.6 million plus or minus 0.9 million to $3.1 million plus or minus 1.7 million.
2. By 2015, CEOs made five times what orthopedic surgeons made, 12 times what pediatricians made and 44 times what registered nurses made.
3. CFOs had a "similar" pay increase between 2005 and 2015, researchers found.
4. Overall mean healthcare worker wages increased 8 percent, management worker wages increased 14 percent, nonclinical worker wages increased 7 percent and physician salaries increased 10 percent.
Researchers concluded, "There is a fast-rising wage gap between the top executives of major nonprofit centers and physicians that reflects the substantial and growing cost of nonclinical worker wages to the U.S. healthcare system. However, there does not appear to be a proportionate increase in healthcare utilization. These findings suggest a growing, substantial burden of nonclinical tasks in healthcare. Methods to reduce nonclinical work in healthcare may result in important cost-savings."
Becker's Healthcare Publisher and McGuireWoods Partner Scott Becker said, "While the pay of the CEOs has increased 93 percent in the last 10 years, it seems to me the complexity and the challenge of the job has increased several hundred percent."