Twenty-three (23) ANCO member practices responded to the survey (i.e., a 23% response rate in 2007; approximately the same as the 25% and 26% response rates in 2005 and 2003, respectively, and higher than the 13-15% response rates in 1995-2001). Ten (10) responding practices were from metropolitan/urban/suburban regions; four (4) from suburban regions; and, three (3) from rural regions.

Thanks to all those practices that participated, making this activity beneficial to all the members.

There are an average of 3.78 and a median of 3.00 physicians per practice in the reported data with a minimum of 1 physician and a maximum of 16 physicians. There are an average of 24.41 and a median of 15.00 non-physician employees per practice with a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 220.

Survey Question Data

Nineteen (19) respondents review employee salaries on an annual basis with the review date evenly distributed between budget years (7), employee anniversaries (10), and other (7) dates. Six (6) respondents review salaries on some other schedule. Eighteen (18) respondents conduct formal evaluation sessions with their employees; five (5) do not.

The range of salary increases anticipated this year was 0% to 15% with a median increase of 3-5%. Most salary adjustments are based on both merit and cost of living (7) with next largest number based solely on merit (7).

Among responding practices, medical assistants, billing staff, receptionists, and nurses are the positions with the most turnover during the past year. Responding practices added nurses, physician extenders, billers, and office staff during the past year. Newly created positions at responding practices include physician extenders, authorization clerks, and technologists..

Salary Data

The salary data presented below are not stratified by employee tenure or location—each of which may have an impact on employee wages. However, the minimum, maximum, average, and median wages for specific job definitions are reported below along with past data (where available). For definitions of the job categories, download the survey.

Download the raw data file (in Excel format).

Some notes on the data:

1. Medians are provided starting in 2003 and were not calculated for previous years.
2. Clerical/Insurance is changed to Biller in 2005.
3. Computer Operators are included in the Office Assistant/Clerk category starting in 2003.
4. Lab Technicians/Managers were separated into two categories starting in 2003; they were previously included in the same category (Lab Technician). Lab Technicians were changed to Lab Assistants/Phlebotomists in 2005.
5. Medical Secretaries are included in the Transcriptionist category starting in 2003.
6. Medical Technologists were added in 2005.
7. Office Assistants/Clerks are separated from the Clerical/Insurance category starting in 2003.
8. Registered Nurses have been separated into Nurse Managers, Oncology Nurses, Other Nursing, and Physician Extenders starting in 2003.
9. Radiation Therapist is changed to Radiation Technologist starting in 2005.
10. Research is separated in Research Assistant (RN), Research Assistant (non-RN), and Research Manager/Coordinator starting in 2005.
11. Small Office Manager was Office Manager before 2005.

The average hourly rate for billers, lab assistants, medical assistants, medical technologists, multi-purpose workers, nurse managers, office assistants/clerks, oncology nurses, other nurses, pharmacy technicians, physician extenders, research assistants (RNS), and transcriptionists increased from 2003 to 2005.

The average hourly rate for billing coordinators/managers, bookkeepers, lab managers, research assistants, and x-ray technicians decreased from 2003 to 2005.

The average hourly rate for administrators/executive directors, radiation technologists, and receptionists remained the same from 2003 to 2005.

Download the complete database for the 2007 ANCO Staff Salary Survey in Excel format. The database includes the categories reported above (i.e., job description), the job titles provided by the respondents, hours worked per week, number of years on the job (i.e., <2, 2-5, >5), date of last increase, and an indicator for job location (i.e., metropolitan/urban/suburban or rural). Contact the ANCO office via e-mail at execdir@anco-online.org for an electronic copy of the database.

Thanks to Bimal J. Patel, M.D., for assisting on this project.