Report: Health care facility management, nurse compensation rising

Compensation for health care management and nurses is on the rise, despite persisting staffing issues across the industry.

According to a news release, the 2022 edition of the MGMA DataDive Management and Staff Compensation found that compensation across all management levels rose between 2019 and 2021. Executive positions saw the largest increase, rising 19.73 percent, while senior management saw a more modest 5.07 percent increase. General management saw their compensation increase 4.28 percent over the same period.

The western region of the U.S. saw the largest increase in management pay with executive management positions in that region receiving more than a $23,000 pay raise compared to the eastern region of the country, the lowest increase measured for the position. Meanwhile senior management received more than a $31,000 increase and general management saw a more than $23,000 increase in the western region compared to the southern region, the lowest region for increases for those positions.

The increase wasn’t limited to managers, with some fields of nursing also seeing rises in compensation. Triage nurses saw the largest increase of 13.91 percent between 2019 and 2021 and licensed practical nurses seeing the second largest jump with 7.09 percent over the same time period, the release says.

Meanwhile, productivity continues to suffer as the health care industry experiences a lingering staffing shortage even as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to subside. As of November, 30 percent of medical groups saw themselves coming in below their 2021 productivity goals for 2021, according to the release.

"Today's surge in demand for workers has created a compensation arms race forcing medical practices to revisit the ways in which they recruit, engage and nurture staff," Halee Fischer-Wright, MD, MMM, FAAP, FACMPE, president and chief executive officer at Medical Group Management Association, said in the release. "To stay competitive, medical practice leaders must stay on the pulse of macroeconomic forces and invest in strategies that create rewarding and fulfilling workplaces. This latest data provides invaluable compensation benchmarks for job titles throughout a medical group practice — from the C-suite to the front desk — to help healthcare practices overcome retention and recruitment challenges."