A full-time orthopedic surgeon generated an average of $2.7 million on behalf of their affiliated hospitals last year, more than any other type of physician, according to a new survey by Merritt Hawkins.
The survey asked hospital CFOs to quantify how much revenue physicians in 18 specialties generated for their hospitals in the previous 12 months.
Here are five key findings from the survey:
1. A single physician generates an average $1.6 million a year in net revenue on behalf of his or her affiliated hospital.
2. Specialist physicians generate more revenue than primary care physicians, netting $1.6 million and $1.4 million respectively in the last year.
3. Following orthopedic surgeons, the next highest revenue-generators are an invasive cardiologist ($2.4 million), a neurosurgeon ($2.4 million) and a general surgeon ($2.2 million).
4. Orthopedic surgeons are also among the physicians providing the best return on investment. They averaged $497,000 in salary while generating 5.5 times that much in hospital revenue.
5. Revenue generated by 11 of the 18 medical specialties increased compared to 2013.