MedAxiom released its 12th annual Cardiovascular Provider Compensation and Production Report, providing an in-depth look at the current state of working in cardiology.
The massive 60-page report (n=5,663 providers, 202 programs, 2023 data) outlined four notable employment trends…
Rising PE Ownership – Nearly 50% of surveyed private practice groups were also part of a private equity portfolio, up from zero a few years ago.
- That’s a big difference from previous research in JAMA that found just 3.9% of cardiology practice locations in the U.S. are under PE ownership (including both private and hospital-integrated locations).
- Despite clearly different methodology, both this MedAxiom report and the previous JAMA study highlighted rapid PE expansions.
Cardiology Pay Increases – For the fourth year in a row, average pay for hospital-integrated cardiologists increased (from $645k to $688k), while private practice cardiologists saw compensation recover after a dip in 2022 (from $588k to $616k ).
- The increase was driven by electrophysiology, invasive, and interventional cardiologists all exceeding $700k in total compensation.
- Compensation for private APPs ($126k) also pulled ahead of integrated APPs ($122k).
Private Interventionalists, Integrated Generalists – Integrated practices employed more generalists and less interventionalists (43% & 29% of total employed physicians), while private practices staffed far more interventionalists than generalists (47% & 29% of physicians).
Advanced Imaging Takes Center Stage – The ratio of advanced imaging exams per cath lab procedure nearly doubled over five years, highlighting increased adoption of imaging before (or instead of) cath procedures.
- This trend was driven by the most imaging-focused groups, as the top 10% of programs performed 119 advanced imaging exams per 1,000 patients, while the bottom 25% performed just five per 1,000 patients.
The Takeaway
While MedAxiom’s annual report provides some assurance that cardiologist pay is rising steadily and advanced imaging adoption is increasing – many in cardiology are surely concerned about what private equity’s rapid expansion might mean for their careers.
