Average annual hospital revenue generated by pediatricians dropped 8% from 2010 to 2013, according to a survey by physician job placement firm Merritt Hawkins.
Average revenue of $788,000 was reported for pediatricians in 2013, down from $856,000 in 2010.
That drop came despite gains among primary care physicians overall. Family physicians and internists are more likely than pediatricians to work for hospitals, the survey authors noted, and "as primary care physicians become hospital employees, they may be more likely to divert tests, therapies, and other services ‘in-house’ to their hospital employer, rather than to outside resources such as radiology groups or labs."
By comparison, hospital revenue generated was $1.57 million for all primary care physicians and $1.42 million for all specialists in 2013. The specialists’ average is the lowest Merritt Hawkins has reported since it started the survey in 2002 and is lower than the primary care average for the first time ever, the report noted.
The average net revenue generated for all physicians was $1.45 million – a drop of 6.2% from 2010 and, again, the lowest average since the survey began, Merritt Hawkins said in its analysis.
The survey was sent to 5,500 hospitals in January 2013 and was completed by 102 hospital chief financial officers.
