Everything You Need To Know About MGMA Salary Data

The Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) represents over 15,000 group medical practices ranging from smaller, private practices to some of the largest ones in the country, representing over 350,000 physicians in total.

MGMA’s salary data is valuable and considered highly accurate because of the broad range of available information.

Here is a look at what this organization does and how it may matter to you.

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Key Takeaways

• MGMA salary data is available through an annual subscription with a base cost of $399/year, but also through Physicians Thrive.
• It’s highly useful to physicians looking to use professional statistics for career leverage.
• The data is collected through a broad array of industry sources, which includes MGMA member data.
• MGMA salary reports are published annually.

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How to Access MGMA Salary Data

An annual subscription with a base cost of $399 per year is required to access the data. However, access to MGMA data is also included in all Physicians Thrive’s contract review packages.

To access MGMA salary data, organizations need to become members. There are several MGMA membership types available.

Those who contribute to a survey receive single-user access to the dataset, submitted through the MGMA DataDive.

Individuals who purchase a membership will pay $399 per year or 2 years for $699. Auto-renewal services are available. Lower costs are available to students or faculty staff.

DataDive is the tool used to access MGMA surveys. It’s not included in the membership; it must be purchased separately.

At Physicians Thrive, MGMA data is included in all our contract review packages, including compensation reviews. Contact us to get started on a review of your contract or compensation.

How to Use MGMA Salary Data

The data is highly useful when researching professional and career statistics, enabling physicians to use it for career leverage.

MGMA survey data can be invaluable to physicians. For example, it may allow you to compare the information available across other providers.

You can use the data from these surveys in various ways to help your professional career, such as when negotiating your contract.

Having these numbers at hand when you sit down to negotiate benefits or your future salary with an organization can provide a valuable tool to show what you are worth, and allow you to leverage facts to increase your earnings.

It’s also helpful to know what other physicians are being paid if you relocate to another practice or location.

Where Does MGMA Get Their Salary Data?

MGMA gets its salary data from various industry sources, including MGMA’s own member data. Surveys are regularly conducted and published in annual reports.

MGMA provides reliable data to industry professionals and its members.

That data includes thousands of metrics about a wide range of aspects in the field of healthcare, and that includes MGMA salary data.

The data itself comes from various sources, and while MGMA does not share all of them, it states that it comes from data analysis, reports, and surveys conducted throughout the industry, including through its own members.

Types of Data Available From MGMA

MGMA offers a wide range of data reports aimed at providing small- and medium-sized practices with information on where they stand.

Some of the data focus points for the company include:

• Provider compensation: This focuses on compensation packages for medical providers, including data that represents thousands of other providers, providing insight into various KPIs on areas such as productivity, collections, encounters, and more.
• Management and staffing reports: This data focuses on turnover, one of the most concerning aspects for many workplaces. It includes data on engagement across various datasets.
• Cost and revenue reports: This data insight focuses on the financials of operations, including more elaborate data, such as optimized operating expenses, healthy A/R, and balanced staff ratios.
• Practice operations: This dataset is a helpful database of information related to patients, employees, and practice benchmarks. It includes KPIs including wait times, hours of operation, call volume, and appointment availability. The focus here is on reducing employee turnover while increasing patient retention.
• Procedural profiles: In this data set, MGMA presents the data as a tool for viewing CPT code profiles for various specialties, including providing insight into the lowest and highest-producing incomes.

Surveys Available From MGMA

MGMA surveys are designed to provide members with a way to review data and analyze how well their physician practice is performing compared to others.

This allows organizations to better understand how well they are doing while also learning how they may do things better in the future.

This enables them to make informed decisions based on industry standards.

To facilitate this, MGMA conducted a number of surveys, each with varied types of information. The four key surveys include:

• Practice operations;
• Cost and revenue;
• Provider compensation;
• Management and staff compensation.

In addition to this, the organization also provides insights into operations management, human resource topics, revenue cycles, and value-based care models.

It also offers insights into financial management as well as risk and compliance, all areas that many organizations find critical.

MGMA Data Publishing Schedule

MGMA works to publish salary data results each year. The release date for each survey and report differs from one sector to the next.

MGMA released the 2023 report for their Compensation & Production Survey in May 2023. In general, most of the salary data is released in the summer of each year.

MGMA Data Set Sample Size

MGMA uses its members’ data to help with the creation of surveys. That means that it can pull data from thousands of people to make a wide comparison.

Each survey will be different based on the number of people participating.

However, the last survey by the company had over 150,000 respondents, providing a solid framework for the data included.

MGMA’s Methodology

To utilize MGMA salary data effectively, physicians must ensure responsible data collection that aligns with user expectations.

Here are the types of organizations allowed to participate in surveys:

• Private practices
• Hospitals
• Integrated delivery systems
• Recruiters
• Academic departments
• Universities
• Management services organizations
• Physician practice management companies
• Government organizations

Freestanding ambulatory surgery center professionals are excluded. If a practice merges or is acquired and can’t provide 12 months of data, survey participation is not possible.

Providers employed during the survey’s fiscal year, including new hires and those who left within the same year, can complete surveys.

Locum tenens and contracted providers can participate in certain areas like compensation and production surveys.

Regarding managers and staff, those employed in the most recent fiscal year can complete surveys.

Those who left during the fiscal year may participate by specifying their employment status.

MGMA vs. Alternatives

MGMA, along with AMGA and Sullivan Cotter, are considered leading survey providers.

These organizations are the most notable in the industry due to their highly refined and careful practices and their decades-long data collection.

This allows them to have better data to meet users’ needs. Other notable providers include Merritt Hawkins and Medscape.

Here is a look at a few key data points regarding these three organizations.

• Total compensation full-time equivalent: This is typically the most compelling data from organizational management and providers. Sullivan Cotter doesn’t include cash compensation paid for call coverage and extra work of a provider here, such as the work they do moonlighting. AMGA and MGMA methods include these pay components.
• Work relative value units (wRVUs) per full-time equivalent: Each provider consistently publishes data on this metric.
• Physician medical director services: Sullivan Cotter, AMGA, and MGMA all provide data in this area.
• Who receives the data: Sullivan Cotter’s and AMGA’s data is much the same as that of MGMA. One key difference is that MGMA tailors the data provided to smaller organizations. In short, they sell the report to smaller clinics, generally those that have six or fewer providers. In some situations, they sell it to individuals.

Read our compensation data provider reviews:

Doximity  |  Salary.com |  Comparably  |  ZipRecruiter  |  Payscale  |  AMGA

Final Thoughts

Physicians Thrive provides our clients with access to every data point within MGMA’s survey.

Every physician who reviews and negotiates their employment contract with Physicians Thrive can easily access that data for their specialty.

Learn more about your options in accessing MGMA salary data.

Take some time now to request the Physician Thrive’s Compensation report, too!