Hospitalist salaries vary by region across the United States. And while the hospitalist field has been red-hot in recent years, salaries may be starting to cool. 

A hospitalist coordinates a patient’s care, tending to the acutely ill who are hospitalized and freeing up primary care physicians from hospital duty. Data collected from the 2010 Society of Hospital Medicine and the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) salary compensation survey provides a good look at hospitalist salary in general and is broken down by region.

According to the survey, the 2010 hospitalist salary in a nationwide average for all cash compensation (not including benefits) was $215,000. This was an increase of 17 percent over 2008 salary reports.

Average regional hospitalist salaries were recorded as follows:

  • $211,715 in the Midwest
  • $205,000 in the Northeast
  • $235,701 in the Southeast
  • $213,831 in the West

According to new data from the hospitalist society and the MGMA, academic hospitalists earn less than their nonacademic counterparts. However but they appear to earn more per work RVU, or “relative value unit” (a measure used to determine compensation levels). The data revealed the median salary for an academic hospitalist in internal medicine in the United States as $173,113 and productivity for all academic faculty as 3,365 wRVUs. Those figures compare with a community hospitalists, who the data shows as drawing a salary of $215,000 annually at 4,107 wRVUs per hospitalist per year.

While salaries are high for hospitalists, another bright spot is growth in the field. The Journal of Healthcare Management reports that hospitalist programs are a growing trend, with 31,000 hospitalists currently in practice and demand for 40,000 in coming years.

For more information

Learn more about hospitalists at the Society of Hospital Medicine. 

Visit Medicine Net to learn more about what a hospitalist does

Find out about hospitalist CME courses.

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