Yearly Performance Evaluation (Review) and Raise

[Guest UVAPAC]

Just looking for some advice on PA salary review and raise process.

 

I am now in my third year as a practicing physician assistant.  Each year our hospital has a performance evaluation process where you fill out a self review on yourself, and your medical director also fills out a performance evaluation.  You then meet 1 on 1 with the director to review the performance evaluations, and at the end you are given your raise for the next year.

 

Our hospital has had a policy that "the maximum raise is 2%" which is next to nothing.  

 

My first year the medical director got me "an adjusted raise of 6%," my second year I was given an adjusted raise of 15%...

 

This year we have a new medical director.  I sat down with him having seen my highest number of patients ever, more responsibility than ever, and shorter on staff than ever before.  He more or less said "you do a great job, everyone loves you, therefore I am giving you the maximum raise of 2%."  I wasn't going to sit there and argue and said "ok."  Clearly from the past 2 years I understand that it is possible to get an adjusted raise.

 

 

I guess my question is... what kind of raises to PA's normally get?  Is it customary to get larger raises the first year or two, and then stuck with tiny raises for an eternity?

 

It has really become increasingly frustrating to me the more I think about it.  I bill in a single day what I am paid in 5-6 weeks.  I would estimate I bill $1 million for the $108,000 salary I make.  

 

 

Should I have tried to negotiate from more?  Do I tell them I am frustrated with the embarrassingly low raise?  Do I just look for another job?  

 

Thanks

 

 

[camoman1234]

You should know how much your billing and how much the practice is paid. Those financial records should be 100% available to you. You deserve more $ if you ask me (with what you explained about more patients and less staff).  

[SedRate]

New medical director = new policies

 

I would negotiate more, especially if you're busier, more productive and have more responsibility. At a certain point, those big raises will subside, likely once your production plateaus.

 

As a note of caution, do not confuse what you BILL for what you COLLECT. You can bill all day but if you only collect 10% of that, you really don't have much negotiating room or power. Get your numbers if possible. If not, use the points above to negotiate a bigger raise. 2% is not much and arguably less than a COL raise, which is typically 3-4%.

[Guest UVAPAC]

I guess my question is... do all hospitals have a "maximum employee raise" and does this apply to providers (MD's PA's APRNs).  Do you guys typically just accept the percentage raise offered, or do you negotiate for an increased salary each year?

 

It just feels like 2% is such a slap in the face. 

 

I have gone from averaging 15-16 patients a day, to 22-23 patients + a day (8 hour work days).  I pay for my own licenses, the hospital does not reimburse. 

 

It feels like I am being taken advantage of?  Maybe it is just greed?

[Guest UVAPAC]

You should know how much your billing and how much the practice is paid. Those financial records should be 100% available to you. You deserve more $ if you ask me (with what you explained about more patients and less staff).  

In my office unfortunately they only release this information to "management."  The only ones who see the reports of patients seen and billing is the 2 physicians, and the program manager.  They do not share any of that information with myself or the APRN that we work with.

[SedRate]

I guess my question is... do all hospitals have a "maximum employee raise" and does this apply to providers (MD's PA's APRNs). Do you guys typically just accept the percentage raise offered, or do you negotiate for an increased salary each year?

 

It just feels like 2% is such a slap in the face.

 

I have gone from averaging 15-16 patients a day, to 22-23 patients + a day (8 hour work days). I pay for my own licenses, the hospital does not reimburse.

 

It feels like I am being taken advantage of? Maybe it is just greed?

I work in private practice so I can't really help you regarding hospital raises. I negotiate each year. I give them a number, and then they come back with another number that is reasonable and I accept.

 

Paying for your own license is crap. Negotiate for this to be covered. 108, now 110 seems decent for a hospitalist. But when you include non-covered license and such a large increase in productivity, crap. You're seeing roughly 70% more patients for a measly $2100 raise? Crap crap crap. Once again, I'm not a hospitalist so perhaps someone else can give you first-hand insight.

 

You can handle this a few ways, attempt to re-negotiate or just stop working so hard. If they're only going to give you a 2% COST OF LIVING raise (which it is, since $2100 for roughly 70% more work is ridiculous) and not based on performance or productivity, then what's the incentive to go above and beyond? Keep your overworked job? Lol.

 

Maybe you should consider looking elsewhere.

[ventana]

In my office unfortunately they only release this information to "management."  The only ones who see the reports of patients seen and billing is the 2 physicians, and the program manager.  They do not share any of that information with myself or the APRN that we work with.

I have always wondered how they get away with this

 

it is YOUR PIN and UPIN and YOUR data.......

[sas5814]

The last hospital I worked for had a max 6%. There was an evaluation process that had several measurable factors. They plugged in the numbers and the raise was determined by your score. I don't remember all the ins and outs but it was a pretty transparent system.

[Guest Paula]

I work in a clinic that is owned by the hospital.  We don't get raises.  My salary is a base salary, plus wRVU production bonuses above the base.  So, in essence, in order to get a "raise"  I must produce more than my base salary (which I have been) and my raises are all up to me.  

[jb5158]

At our hospital, which is part of a large health system, unless you do horribly, typical raise is 3% each year, more depending on performance. Our department has a set budget however so the raises are limited by how much money there is to go around to each person for raises. We also get production bonuses that are incredibly hard to get to. 

 

For max raises, I haven't encountered this and obviously this is a completely different job, but the coder I work with said she is at the top of her pay scale and was basically told they would not go over the top limit, so her raises are going to be 0, even with inflation, unless the pay scale changes. 

[Guest UVAPAC]

At our hospital, which is part of a large health system, unless you do horribly, typical raise is 3% each year, more depending on performance. Our department has a set budget however so the raises are limited by how much money there is to go around to each person for raises. We also get production bonuses that are incredibly hard to get to. 

 

For max raises, I haven't encountered this and obviously this is a completely different job, but the coder I work with said she is at the top of her pay scale and was basically told they would not go over the top limit, so her raises are going to be 0, even with inflation, unless the pay scale changes. 

Our department has "a budget" as well, however I feel like the physicians ensure that a large chunk of that is set aside for their personal raises.  (Meaning while I was given 2%, he takes 10% for himself).  

 

Our hospital also has a maximum pay for each position, however once you reach it you apparently get a "annual cash bonus" in place of your raise.

 

That being said, if I am given a 2% raise annually, I won't have to worry about it, because I will be 65 by the time I reach the maximum salary for a physician assistant. 

[mmiller3]

I work in a clinic that is owned by the hospital.  We don't get raises.  My salary is a base salary, plus wRVU production bonuses above the base.  So, in essence, in order to get a "raise"  I must produce more than my base salary (which I have been) and my raises are all up to me.  

We have this same crappy system. I work with several providers, and the physicians get preference for scheduling. This translates to my schedule consisting of follow-ups I have already seen, and SDAs for the most part. I never see enough patients overall to qualify for any bonuses, so I am stuck at the base salary.

[greenmood]

I guess my question is... do all hospitals have a "maximum employee raise" and does this apply to providers (MD's PA's APRNs).  Do you guys typically just accept the percentage raise offered, or do you negotiate for an increased salary each year?

 

It just feels like 2% is such a slap in the face. 

 

 

Our hospital has a small individual increase every year, and they also increase the job pay range maximum every year. Usually it amounts to about 3%, and no, it's not negotiable. Non-resident physicians are treated differently. My institution does not permit meritperformance-based raises, as every provider should be meeting the needs of the patients equally well and giving incentives for going faster and seeing more people is counter-culture.

 

My previous hospital work experience also provided small yearly increases, but these were based on where your supervisor placed you in a ranking system within the department. So the highest ranked employees (and often those who made the best case for themselves) would receive a larger increase.

 

I suspect that your dissatisfaction with the raise comes from having benefited greatly under a system that is no longer being used. Like someone else said though... new medical director = new policies.