Managing Overhead: Salaries

(A digest from an article in Medical Economics, 8/4/2006)

Are you paying your staff too little or too much? Do you pay enough to keep good employees on staff? Are you losing employees to other groups?

Here are some salary comparisons from a study conducted by the Professional Association of Health Care Office Management. Figures include both salary and benefits.

Office Managers:

· Family Practice $55,012

· Internal Medicine $53,311

· Ob/Gyn $59,411

· Orthopedics $68,755

· Pediatrics $64,633

· Average $65,428

Family Practice Clinical Staff:

· RN $37,855

· LPN $28,112

· CMA $25,687

· MA $23,499

Internal Medicine Clinical Staff:

· RN $35,992

· LPN $30,038

· CMA $28,795

· MA $23,098

Orthopedics Clinical Staff:

· RN $45,265

· LPN $33,755

· CMA $28,348

· MA $30,775

Ob/Gyn Clinical Staff:

· RN $35,888

· LPN $29,003

· CMA $28,287

· MA $23,194

Pediatrics Clinical Staff:

· RN $45,657

· LPN $31,485

· CMA $26,012

· MA $29,265

Clerical staff salaries follow the pattern established by clinical staff and office managers earning higher wages in orthopedics and pediatrics. The following is an average benchmark based on multiple specialties:

· Appointment Secretary/Receptionist $24,842

· Insurance Clerk $28,004

· Billing Clerk $29,219

· Bookkeeper $29,382

· Filing Clerk $20,803

· Data Entry Clerk $25,641