Physician Salary Guarantees

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Posted by: Michelle Brooks, University Health Systems of Eastern Carolina

Date: November 20, 2009, 2:30 pm

Would physician salary guarantees paid by hospital count as workforce development?

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Response: Carol Candor, Bayhealth Medical Center

Date: November 23, 2009, 9:27 am

Is the hospital in a federally declared MUA or HPSA and is the specialty practiced by the physician a need in the community?

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Response: Michelle Brooks, University Health Systems of Eastern Carolina

Date: November 23, 2009, 10:31 am

Not all of our hospitals are in federally designated shortage areas, but definitely community need, both primary care and specialists.

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Response: Angela Haggard, Provena Health

Date: November 23, 2009 10:32 am

Not sure if this answers your question however, this is info posted on the CHA What Counts website regarding physicians.

Community Benefits – What Counts!

Topic: Physician Recruitment

Question: When should recruitment of physicians be reported as community benefit and what can we count?

Recommendation: Report physician recruitment costs as community benefit when the organization can document the need for recruiting physicians. This can be demonstrated by:

• Community’s official designation as a Health Professional Shortage Area or Medically Underserved Area.

• Findings of a community-need assessment, particularly identification of a need for access to primary or specialty care by low-income and other vulnerable persons.

• Physician shortage identified when compared with national recommendations.

• Agreements with recruited physicians should include responsibilities to care for underserved persons and populations. All recruitment costs for targeted physicians (such as interview airfare/hotel, loan forgiveness, signing bonus, income guarantees) can be counted as community benefit under Category F — Community Building Activities; although we recommend being conservative.

Guarantees!!!

Topic: Paying Physicians to Serve Low Income & Uninsured

Question: We pay independent physicians for covering our charity patients (no insurance/under insured) in the ER and inpatient setting. The program meets the medical needs of the poor and vulnerable. Can we count the payment to physicians for services to charity patients in our hospital? This would relate to paying the hospital’s clinic doctors and other independent physicians for covering our charity ER and inpatients.

Recommendation: We recommend that payments to physicians for services in the hospital and ER for patients who meet the organization’s financial assistance policy count as community benefit because it meets the community benefit objective of improving access to care. Be sure not to double count with ER subsidized service (if applicable) or with what you report as charity care expenses.

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