Although it varies by geographic location and other factors, the average salary for a partner in an emergency physician group is $301,274, according to a salary survey released in June.

The “2009 Daniel Stern & Associates Emergency Medicine Compensation and Benefit Survey” represented input from 1,009 physicians from all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Of this total, 624 were staff physicians and 385 were emergency department directors.

A compensation and benefit survey of academic physicians will be published later in a separate report.

Compensation

As in previous years, total compensation varies widely according to geographic location, with those describing their employment status as “partners” earning the highest compensation.

On the national level, total compensation for staff physicians at the 50th percentile was highest for “partners” who earned $301,274, compared with “independent contractors” who earned $270,000, and “employees” whose total compensation was $252,690. “Partners” who completed an emergency medicine residency and were ABEM certified had the highest total compensation at the 50th percentile, at $305,000.

On the national level, total compensation at the 50th percentile for emergency department directors also was highest for “partners” who earned $368,373, followed by “independent contractors” at $340,000, and “employees” at $290,000. Directors who were “partners” and completed an emergency medicine residency and were ABEM certified had the highest total compensation, at $377,500.

Staff physicians who are “partners” showed the greatest difference between base pay and total compensation, with a dollar value of $90,848.

Directors who are “partners” also had the greatest difference between base compensation and total compensation, with a difference of $118,294.

The highest hourly rates were tied in the South Central and the West, both for staff physicians and emergency department directors, with staff physicians earning $160 per hour and directors earning $175 per hour.

Department Statistics

In the West, 73% of respondents evaluated 1.5 to 2.5 patients per hour. In the Southeast, 52% of the physicians evaluated 1.5 to 2.5 patients per hour. A total of 19% of the patients who come through emergency departments in the West are admitted to the hospital, compared with 23% of the patients in the Northeast and Southeast.

According to the participants, just 17% of all of their emergency departments have single physician coverage; 29% have double coverage, and 29% have triple coverage.