Primary-care physician compensation.

Abstract

This article reviews existing models of physician compensation and presents information about current compensation patterns for primary-care physicians in the United States. Theories of work motivation are reviewed where they have relevance to the desired outcome of satisfied, productive physicians whose skills and expertise are retained in the workforce. Healthcare reforms that purport to bring accountability for healthcare quality and value-rather than simply volume-bring opportunities to redesign primary-care physician compensation and may allow for new compensation methodologies that increase job satisfaction. Physicians are increasingly shunning the responsibility of private practice and choosing to work as employees of a larger organization, often a hospital. Employers of physicians are seeking compensation models that reward both productivity and value.