Radiologists rank among the highly demanded physician specialties in America. They receive the highest package in terms of starting salaries, reveals the recent Merritt Hawkins figures.
Most of the requests that healthcare recruitment agencies performed were for specific physician specialties instead of the primary healthcare providers, and radiology ranked the third most frequently requested specialty, with family medicine ranking second and nurses or nurse practitioners ranking number one.
Radiology has a link with the second most common job openings and search assignments. Merritt Hawkins labeled as the “absolute demand.” This, partly reflects the growing need for radiologists and the rising use of various imaging procedures.
The authors of a 38-page report penned, “Demand for radiology as well as anesthesiology are rising, which is a clear indication that the total volume of such medical procedures is growing exponentially. Whether the test is requested for a procedure or a diagnosis, nothing really happens without imaging in healthcare.”
Likewise, offering the highest salaries to radiologists is a trend now. An average radiologist lands at $401,000 annually. Some of the highest salary grosser earn up to $825,000, while the lowest start from $150,000.
Although this shows a 3% dip year-by-year from 2019-20 mark at $423,000, the specialty still ranks at an overall No. 5 position. Interventional cardiologists hold the top position at $611,000, while orthopedic surgeons at $546,000, and next is gastroenterologists at $453,000, and finally non-interventional cardiologists at $446,000.
Several specialties in healthcare expected an exact wage dip; orthopedic surgeons experienced a 13% drop, as per the survey report. Neurology, psychiatry, and non-interventional cardiology increased year on year, thus bucking this trend.
Generally, the salary of specialties has increased, but there has been a drop-off in some elective procedures due to the Covid-19 pandemic impacting entry-level pay all across the medical board. Medicare changes and related payer reimbursement issues also contributed, according to the authors.
Looking ahead, Merritt Hawkins expects that things should be back to normal, including a rise in the starting pay.
The authors wrote, “In the long run, the undercurrents of demand and supply of physicians, which includes the elderly population, and aging physicians, stay the same. Over time, there would be a shortage of physicians, stimulating an increasing demand for more general physicians as well as advanced practitioners while exerting pressure upwards on the starting salaries along with other similar recruiting incentives.”
Merritt Hawkins’s 28th Review of Physician and Advanced Practitioner Recruiting Incentives, and its iteration, is a true representative sample depicting 2458 providers involved in the survey between the periods of April 2020 to March 2021. In the findings, all 50 states were covered together with the U.S Virgin Islands and Washington D.C.
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