Are You Paying Your Staff Too Much?

Our 2012 Staff Salary Survey reflects compensation data from across the country. Over 1200 respondents told us how much they pay everyone in their practice, from the front desk to the billing office.

We all know salary can vary based on experience and where you live. So, the slides that follow separate compensation data by years of experience and region of the country.

Experience seems to matter when it comes to staff salaries. Compensation rises with experience, no matter what the role. Billing manager salaries are around $28,281 to start but go up to $32,007 after 3 to 5 years and can top out at close to $40,000 (see the next slide).

It's worth paying more for people who know what they are doing, but keep in mind that experience doesn't always equal expertise. Build rewards and raises around results, not hours spent at a desk.

Staff raises slow down a little as medical billers, medical records clerks, and nurses get over 11 years of experience. Why? It's impossible to keep paying everyone in your practice more each year and still be able to make ends meet.

Here is staff salary data for the Northeast. We only report data where we had enough responses to make the data valid, so there are a few blanks. In general, though, as you might expect given the cost of living, physician staff salaries are pretty robust in the Northeast.