Radiologists happy with their pay but find these parts of the job most challenging
Most radiologists are happy with their annual compensation but find a few parts of their job particularly challenging.
That’s according to the 2024 Medscape Radiologist Compensation Report, published Friday. Members of the specialty earned average pay of $498,000, up 3% from 2023. The figure places radiologists sixth on the list of highest paid physicians, behind orthopedists ($558,000), plastic surgeons ($536,000), cardiologists ($525,000), urologists ($515,000) and gastroenterologists ($512,000).
Specialists earned about 43% more than primary care physicians, similar to the numbers seen in 2023 and 2022. Since COVID-19, radiologists and other physicians have sat “in the driver’s seat where job offers and contract negotiations are concerned,” one expert told Medscape.
“As a rule of thumb, the specialists who generate the most gross billings to commercial payers are likely to receive the highest compensation,” said Jeff Decker, president of AMN Healthcare’s physician solutions division. “Physicians who mostly provide consultations are likely to be toward the bottom, even if both services are equally valuable from a clinical perspective.”
About 57% of radiologists surveyed believe that most physicians are underpaid versus 4% who think they’re overpaid and 39% who feel pay levels are “about right.” Meanwhile, 57% feel radiologists are fairly paid compared to 43% who do not.
“I think their response is a function of their lens—‘I feel fortunate to have a job, to care for my patients to be paid for this work,’” Elizabeth Woodcock, principal of consulting firm Woodcock & Associates, told Medscape. “The reflection about being paid well is more of a reflection about their personal narrative.”
About 24% of radiologists said “having to work long hours” is the most challenging part of their job, the No. 1 answer. “Worrying about being sued” came in second (21%) followed by “having so many rules and regulations” (17%), “dealing with Medicare and/or other insurers and getting fair reimbursement” (11%), and “working with an EHR system” (5%). Meanwhile, “being good at what I do/finding answers, diagnoses” was cited as the most rewarding part of a radiologists’ job at 55%. Other popular answers included “making good money at a job that I like (15%) and “making the world a better place” (13%).
Medscape conducted the online survey between October and January, reaching 7,000 physicians across 29-plus specialties including over 200 radiologists. You can read the rest of the report from Medscape here.
A 2nd salary report, from Doximity
Physician networking website Doximity also released its 2024 Physician Compensation Report on May 23, which found both radiologists and radiation oncologists among the 10 highest paid specialists.
Overall, average pay for doctors increased 5.9% in 2023 following a 2.4% decline the previous year. Male physicians earned roughly 23% or $102,000 more than females, a gap that persisted even when controlling for specialty, location and years of experience.
Radiation oncologists are the sixth highest paid specialists, earning an average of $569,170, while radiologists landed ninth at $531,983. Neurosurgeons topped the list, earning an average of $763,908, followed by thoracic surgeons ($720,634) and orthopedic surgeons ($654,815).
Half of all physicians surveyed said they have thoughts of leaving clinical practice, while 86% are concerned about the industry’s ability to care for an aging population.
“The U.S. healthcare system continues to face significant challenges that are taking a toll on even the most dedicated medical professionals,” Nate Gross, MD, co-founder and chief strategy officer of Doximity, said in a May 23 announcement. “Physicians are increasingly tasked with achieving more with less. The goal of this report is to empower physicians to advocate for themselves and make better-informed career decisions.”
The 23% pay gap across medicine represents a drop from 26% recorded in 2022 and 28% in 2021, with women earning less than men across every medical specialty. About 40% of physicians surveyed said they are satisfied with their current pay, Doximity found. Another 75% are willing to accept lower pay for more autonomy and work-life balance.
Doximity produced the report using compensation data from 150,000 survey responses over the past five years, which includes 33,000 submissions from U.S. physicians working full time in 2023.
You can read the report in full for free here.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.