De-Compensation

[yahyamer25]

Hello everyone,

Any reasoning behind the downtrend of Oncology compensations? I have been hearing/reading that future for compensation for Oncology will be lower than that of a hospitalist in not too long. It is strange that with all the growth of this specialty it's being financially restricted. Is it all because the specialty is being "bought" by hospitals and hence pharma which would naturally reduce the salary to a minimum.

I'm just curious because despite that the nation is destined to face a 40% national shortage in oncologists by 2025 (which would make it even busier), we're having decreasing rates of compensation.

Another not directly related question is how much impact would productivity have on your salary?

Thank you

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[Phase1Phase2]

Compensation remains highly dependent on geographic practice area and how many patients one is willing to see per week (and thus clinical RVU generation). It is less and less common for oncologists to own (and thus profit share) in infusion revenue. If you are hospital-based, your revenue will be a product of the clinical RVU that you generate directly via patient care, and additional monies as an economic driver for the hospital.

 

[yahyamer25]

Compensation remains highly dependent on geographic practice area and how many patients one is willing to see per week (and thus clinical RVU generation). It is less and less common for oncologists to own (and thus profit share) in infusion revenue. If you are hospital-based, your revenue will be a product of the clinical RVU that you generate directly via patient care, and additional monies as an economic driver for the hospital.

Thank you for your answer. So will the RVU be independent from the baseline salary or it's either salary or RVU based?

Any idea why this steep decrease in Oncologists compensation? It is a very busy specialty and extremely draining mentally, physically and emotionally yet I'm clueless as to why this will happen, given the probable national shortage of oncologists.

 

[bronx43]

Thank you for your answer. So will the RVU be independent from the baseline salary or it's either salary or RVU based?

Any idea why this steep decrease in Oncologists compensation? It is a very busy specialty and extremely draining mentally, physically and emotionally yet I'm clueless as to why this will happen, given the probable national shortage of oncologists.

Reimbursement for drugs went down so a lot of smaller groups folded and sold to hospitals. Back in the day, oncologists could make a killing with “buy and bill” but the margins got squeezed big time.

Oncology is now just another employee making money per wRVU, and it’s hard to have high volume practice. It’s not uncommon for cardiologists or pulmonologist to see 25-30 per day. With that said, oncology still commands significantly more money per rvu than most other specialties.

 

[yahyamer25]

Reimbursement for drugs went down so a lot of smaller groups folded and sold to hospitals. Back in the day, oncologists could make a killing with “buy and bill” but the margins got squeezed big time.

Oncology is now just another employee making money per wRVU, and it’s hard to have high volume practice. It’s not uncommon for cardiologists or pulmonologist to see 25-30 per day. With that said, oncology still commands significantly more money per rvu than most other specialties.

Thank you for your answer. Absolutely right about the background of buy and bill era.

So is the salary usually calculated as base + RVU or is it usually a fixed salary irrespective of how many patients you see versus pay per rvu?

I still don't understand why would the salary be lower than the average for a hospitalist in a such a busy field? I thought when you have shortage of anything it naturally becomes more competitive and valuable.

Not for oncologists it appears. The financial prospects will keep dipping down.

 

[bronx43]

Thank you for your answer. Absolutely right about the background of buy and bill era.

So is the salary usually calculated as base + RVU or is it usually a fixed salary irrespective of how many patients you see versus pay per rvu?

I still don't understand why would the salary be lower than the average for a hospitalist in a such a busy field? I thought when you have shortage of anything it naturally becomes more competitive and valuable.

Not for oncologists it appears. The financial prospects will keep dipping down.

I'm not an oncologist, so I don't know what the actual averages are across different geographies.

In terms of compensation models, both types are out there. Some are calculated as production bonus if you hit above a certain pre-determined number. Some are straight salary with no production bonus (rare outside of academic or VA). And others are straight production without a base.

I don't think pay will be lower than a hospitalist. I'm not sure who is saying that or why. Sounds like typical doom and gloom to me.

 

[deleted941485]

Not sure about de-compensating. But private Onc groups have been dropping like flies since 2010. The 340b program is still around but of course the only places that have the privilege of making money off the drugs they infuse are mega hospital corps.