Here are five stats to know about how physician pay stacks up compared to CEO pay:
1. The 10 highest-earning average annual physician specialties by compensation, according to Medscape's "Physician Compensation Report 2022":
- Plastic surgery: $576,000
- Orthopedics and orthopedic surgery: $557,000
- Cardiology: $490,000
- Otolaryngology: $469,000
- Urology: $461,000
- Gastroenterology: $453,000
- Dermatology: $438,000
- Radiology: $437,000
- Ophthalmology: $417,000
- Oncology: $411,000
2. Primary care physicians earned an average of $260,000 in 2022, with specialists earning an average of $368,000, according to the Medscape report.
3. Physician pay decreased for four specialties from 2021 to 2022 — interventional cardiology, hematology, radiology and pediatrics — and increased for eight specialties — OB-GYN, anesthesiology, non-invasive cardiology, neurology, gastroenterology, orthopedic surgery, urology and internal medicine.
4. CEOs at S&P 500 companies made 324 times more than median company workers in 2021, according to AFL-CIO data cited by Forbes and reported July 18.
5. Here is the average hospital CEO pay per hour by hospital type and the ratio of the average CEO wage to other workers' wages, according to a study published in Health Affairs last year:
Major teaching hospital
- Average hospital CEO compensation per hour: $529
- Ratio of CEO wage to other workers' wages: 14:1
Minor teaching hospital
- Average hospital CEO compensation per hour: $292
- Ratio of CEO wage to other workers' wages: 9:1
Non-teaching hospital
- Average hospital CEO compensation per hour: $197
- Ratio of CEO wage to other workers' wages: 7:1
Urban hospital
- Average hospital CEO compensation per hour: $319
- Ratio of CEO wage to other workers' wages: 9:1
Rural hospital
- Average hospital CEO compensation per hour: $160
- Ratio of CEO wage to other workers' wages: 6:1