Some nurses paid more than family doctors

[Guest guest]

Some nurses paid more than family doctors

By Parija Kavilanz, senior writer March 11, 2010

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Despite the growing shortage of family doctors in the

United States, medical centers last year offered higher salaries and incentives

to specialist nurses than to primary care doctors, according to an annual survey

of physicians' salaries.

Primary care doctors were offered an average base salary of $173,000 in 2009

compared to an average base salary of $189,000 offered to certified nurse

anesthetists, or CRNAs, according to the latest numbers from Merritt Hawkins &

Associates, a physician recruiting and consulting firm.

And the firm's projections for 2010 indicate that the average base salary for

family physicians will be about $178,000 compared to $186,000 for CRNAs.

CRNAs are advanced practice nurses who administer anesthesia to patients. An

important distinction between CRNAs and anesthesiologist is that when anesthesia

is administered by a nurse anesthetist, it is still recognized as the practice

of nursing rather than a practice of medicine

" It's the fourth year in a row that CRNAs were recruited at a higher pay than a

family doctor, " said Kurt Mosley, staffing expert with Merritt Hawkins &

Associates.

CRNA salaries have trended higher as the number of surgical procedures picked up

pace over the past few years, fueling demand for anesthesiologists and

anesthetists.

0:00 /3:17Doctors opt out of Medicare

Mosley said medical doctors and specialists, including anesthesiologists,

typically have four to five years more of medical training than CRNAs. After

spending a lot of time speaking with physicians around the country, he said many

family doctors are starting to feel like " second-class citizens. "

This type of income disparity " won't make them feel better, " he said. Most

primary care doctors say they're already struggling to make ends meet as their

costs rise faster than what Medicare and private insurers are paying them .

Looking at these compensation trends, the biggest concern for the nation's

health care system is how to encourage more medical students to pick primary

care as their specialty at a time when the nation is already facing a shortage

of about 60,000 primary care doctors.

" The demand for primary care doctors will increase twofold when health reform

happens and millions of more Americans have access to health care, " said Mosley.

" Who is going to triage these patients? It's not the neurologist or

pulmonologist. It has to be the primary care doctor. "

The American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA) maintains that CRNAs are

being fairly compensated.

" From our perspective, we are fairly compensated for the level of responsibility

that we shoulder, " said Thiemann, senior director of professional services

with the AANA.

" We are at the head of the patient's bed. We deliver anesthesia and we keep the

patient safe, " said Thiemann, who has been a CRNA for 14 years.

" Once nurses and physicians arrive at anesthesia training, we use the same

textbooks and same cases. The training is not too different between the two

groups, " she said. " We all deliver anesthesia the same way. "

http://money.cnn.com/2010/03/11/news/economy/health_care_doctor_incomes/