Median Physician Assistant Salary Increased 5.2% in 2016
Physician assistant salary reached a median of $102,000 in 2016, up from a median of $97,000 in 2015, a new report stated.
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By - The median annual physician assistant salary increased by 5.2 percent in 2016, reaching a median of about $102,000, revealed the most recent American Academy of PAs (AAPA) Salary Report.
The survey of over 7,200 physician assistants also found that the hourly wage for physician assistants paid by the hour rose by 9.1 percent compared to 2015. The median hourly wage was $60.
Salary was the primary method for physician assistant compensation, with almost 80 percent of the providers receiving a salary in 2016.
But 17.3 percent earned an hourly wage, with 3.3 percent receiving pay based on their productivity.
Physician assistants who worked in hospital emergency departments, convenient care clinics, and urgent care centers were the most likely to receive compensation via an hourly wage, with 62.6 percent, 53.6 percent, and 46.6 percent of physician assistants in those settings, respectively.
In addition to their salary or hourly wage, almost one-half (48.4 percent) of full-time practicing physician assistants earned a bonus in 2016. Roughly 50 percent of those who received a bonus reported a boost in compensation of $6,000 or more.
Additionally, researchers found that that practice setting also impacted overall physician assistant salary amounts. Hospital-employed physician assistants tended to make the most, while those in physician offices and community health clinics earned the least amount.
The healthcare settings with the highest physician assistant compensation amounts in 2016 were:
• Critical access hospitals with $111,000
• Hospital operating rooms with $110,000
• Hospital intensive care/critical care unit with $110,000
• Other hospital departments with $109,640
• Hospital emergency department with $109,250
The median physician assistant salary was $93,000 in an independent physician practice and $95,500 in a community health clinic.
Although, researchers noted that physician assistants who worked for non-healthcare companies earned the greatest compensation in 2016, with a median salary of $124,000.
Physician assistants who were self-employed or independent contractors also received higher than average salaries, with a median of $120,000.
Additionally, researchers observed a gender gap in physician assistant compensation rates. In 2016, female physician assistants were paid $10,000 less than their male peers and their median bonus was $3,000 lower.
Even after accounting for factors that impact salary, such as years of experience, hours worked per week, specialty, and region, female physician assistants still earned about 7 percent less than their male counterparts.
The survey also revealed a gap in physician assistant salary by state. Compensation notably differed between states that have and have not adopted three of the AAPA’s Six Key Elements. The elements of modern physician assistant practice are:
• “Licensure” versus “certified” or “registered” as the regulatory term to denote the highest level of professional qualification scrutiny at the state level
• Full prescriptive authority
• Scope of practice identified at the practice level to improve team-based care
• Adaptable collaboration requirements between physician assistants and other providers
• Co-signature requirements determined at the practice level
• Number of physician assistants a provider can collaborate with identified at the practice level versus state or regulatory level
Physician assistants practicing in states with a practice barrier reported lower salaries than their peers in states without that barrier. For example, states that implemented the key element that requires the scope of practice to be determined at the practice level had a median physician assistant salary $3,000 higher than the median salary in states that did not adopt that element.
Similarly, physician assistants in states that passed the element pertaining to co-signature requirements being identified at the practice level also reported median salaries about $3,000 higher than their peers in states that did not pass the element.
However, the key element regarding the number of physician assistants a provider may collaborate with did not follow this trend.
Overall, physician assistant salary was lower in states that have not enacted three of the six elements.
