A Structured Compensation Plan Results in Equitable Physician Compensation: A Single-Center Analysis

Area of Science:

• Medical Economics
• Health Equity Research
• Academic Medicine

Background:

• Physician compensation models are complex and can perpetuate pay disparities.
• Structured compensation plans aim for transparency and equity.
• Assessing pay equity by gender and race/ethnicity is crucial in academic medical centers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate adherence to predicted physician compensation based on gender and race/ethnicity.
• To identify systematic deviations from compensation benchmarks in a structured model.
• To assess pay equity at a large academic medical center.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of compensation data for 2845 physicians at Mayo Clinic practices (2017).
• Utilized a salary-only, structured compensation model with national benchmarks and pay steps.
• Compared actual salaries with predicted pay (natural log of pay) and 95% confidence intervals.

Main Results:

• Pay equity was affirmed in 96% of physicians (n=2730).
• No significant interaction between gender/race/ethnicity and deviations in predicted pay.
• Men were more represented in leadership roles (31.4% vs 15.9%) and highly compensated specialties (34.7% vs 20.5%).

Conclusions:

• A structured compensation model successfully achieved overall pay equity.
• Gender pay equality is contingent on increasing women's representation in leadership and high-paying specialties.
• Further efforts are needed to address systemic factors influencing career progression and compensation.