Amednews.com
REPORTS HERE that "as the health system reform law is implemented, and as
the demand for medical services increases, medical practices are
expected to step up their hiring. That, coupled with salary reviews that
often fall toward the end of the calendar year, will have many
physicians contemplating matters of employee pay."
Says the AMA: "fair compensation should not be the only factor physicians consider
when determining salary and benefits.... Practices
must determine a figure that ensures employee retention and offers
flexibility to allow for future raises."
"Experts suggest following several steps when determining an initial
compensation package and a range of possible raises. These include
assessing data, benchmarking salaries and benefits, and defining job
requirements and goals."
Practice managers "really need to think about the roles and
responsibilities of the various team members....Not all jobs are
designed and created equal. Not every person delivers or meets
expectations in the same way."
"Before salary and benefits are determined, experts advocate that
practice managers step back and write job descriptions. These should be
more than a job title and a list of duties and goals for a position.
This should be the main tool that will be used in conjunction with
benchmarking in data to determine a salary."
"Before they even get to the point of setting salaries, they really
need good job descriptions in place..."
"The next step is to assign a salary range to a job description by
assessing the benchmarking data available from various consulting firms
and professional organizations. For example, the 2010 salary survey released...by the
Professional Assn. of Health Care Office Management..."
"Degrees and years of experience also may affect how much a staffer is paid.
Experts caution not to set the initial salary too high. This can
reduce future raises, negatively affecting an employee's motivation to
perform well."
"Compensation should not be set too low, because this makes it more
likely that employees will find another job. Job mobility decreased
during the recession, but it is expected to increase when the economy
improves."
"If you don't set salaries appropriately, turnover will eat you
alive..."
"Significant salary differences among people doing essentially the
same job can create conflict in the office if this information leaks
out."
"Medical practices also should think about the benefits they offer.
Benefits are generally 30% of a compensation package. According to the
survey by the Professional Assn. of Health Care Office Management, 91%
of practices provided employees with health insurance, but only 41%
supplied disability coverage. Less-common benefits include cell phones,
gasoline allowances, parking spaces and memberships to a warehouse club,
such as Costco."
"To make it more likely that employees will recognize the value of
their benefits as well as their salaries, practice managers recommend
issuing annual statements documenting the cost of paid time off, health
insurance and other perks. This can take time but can come from data
pulled from W-2s and bills charging for benefits. Those who do this say
it's worth it."
"Staff place a lot of emphasis on the salary alone, so we issue an
end-of-the-year benefits statement outlining what it takes to keep them
here: taxes, their time off, holiday pay, profit sharing..."
