1987 Survey of hospital salaries & job responsibilities for clinical engineers & biomedical technicians

The Journal of Clinical Engineering has conducted its second survey of the salaries paid to Clinical Engineers and Biomedical Equipment Technicians in U.S. hospitals. This paper reports the salary data obtained from 1,350 professionals in relationship to: Certification; Region of the U.S.; Teaching Versus Nonteaching Facilities; Hospital Bed Count; Years of Experience; Education; Union Membership; and, Gender. Data are included on Wage Increases and Job Responsibilities. This was the largest salary survey ever obtained in this field. New job categories were introduced for BMET Supervisor and CE Supervisor. A new quartile analysis of Wages is introduced. The typical BMET I has 3.1 years of experience and earns $19,000 +/- $4,400 (Std. Dev.). The typical BMET II has 5.9 years of experience and earns $24,500 +/- $4,500. The typical BMET III has 10.8 years of experience and earns $29,500 +/- $5,300. The typical BMET Supervisor has 12.6 years of experience and earns $32,600 +/- $8,800. The typical CE has 7.3 years of experience and earns $34,200 +/- $7,800. CE Supervisors are the highest paid in the field with an average 13.1 years of experience and an average salary of $41,200 +/- $10,100. Wages are the highest on the West Coast and lowest in the Southeast. From 1985 to 1986, respondents received raises ranging from +5.9% to +9.1% depending on job category. The highest quartile of CE Supervisors earns between $46,700 and $86,000 per year. Certified individuals earn from $1,003 to $8,656 more than noncertified.