Both invasive and noninvasive cardiologists increased the revenue generated for their affiliated hospitals from 2012 to 2015, but the gap between the two continued to widen, physician recruitment firm Merritt Hawkins reported.
The net annual revenue generated by invasive cardiologists rose from $2.17 million in 2012 to $2.45 million in 2015, or 12.8%, while noninvasive cardiologists had a more modest 2.3% increase as revenue went from $1.23 million to $1.26 million, according to Merritt Hawkins’ most recent survey of hospital chief financial officers.
The noninvasive cardiologists produced more revenue for hospitals in 2003 – the first year that cardiologists were included in the survey – but the positions were switched by the next survey in 2006 and the gap has widened from $420,000 that year to almost $1.2 million in 2015.
Net revenue generated by physicians in all 18 specialties measured averaged almost $1.6 million in 2015, up 7.7% over the $1.5 million generated in 2012. Average revenue for specialists was up 12.8%, going from $1.4 million in 2012 to $1.6 million in 2015. Among the 18 specialties, invasive cardiologists’ revenue in 2015 was second behind orthopedic surgeons, who brought in almost $2.75 million each for their hospitals.
The survey was completed by 74 hospital chief financial officers, but despite the small number Merritt Hawkins said that the “results are reliable and accurate, in large part because the overall number for average annual revenue generated by all physician specialties for their affiliated hospitals has remained virtually unchanged” over the course of five surveys spanning 12 years.
