ANCO's staff salary survey is a biennial activity occuring during odd-numbered years. The 2013 ANCO staff salary survey will be conducted in 2Q13 with responses requested by June 30th. Responses will be analyzed during 3Q13 and reported in 4Q13.

2011 STAFF SALARY SURVEY REPORT

A staff salary survey was mailed to all individual members and their contacts (i.e., nurse and office managers) in April 2011 (with follow-up notices in May and June 2011). The purpose of this survey was to update data relevant to practice expenses in the Northern California region and to follow-up the biennial salary surveys conducted since 1995.

Twelve (12) ANCO member practices responded to the survey (i.e., a response rate of 20% in 2011, down from 25% in 2009). Three (3) responding practices were from metropolitan/urban regions; eight (8) from suburban regions; and, one (1) from a rural region.

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

There are an average of 6.00 and a median of 4.00 physicians per practice in the reported data with a minimum of 1 physician and a maximum of 16 physicians. There are an average of 51.9 and a median of 28.0 non-physician employees per practice with a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 225 Therefore, based on physicians and non-physician employees, the practices reporting in 2011 were slightly larger than in 2009.

Survey Question Data

Eleven (11) respondents review employee salaries on an annual basis with the review dates scheduled according to budget periods (2) and employee anniversaries (7) or a few other (5) dates. Eleven (11) respondents conduct formal evaluation sessions with their employees; one (1) does not.

The range of salary increases anticipated this year was 0% to 10% with a median increase of 2-3%. Salary adjustments are based on both merit and cost of living (5) or based solely on merit (5). Three practices use other critieria on which to base salary adjustments.

Among responding practices, medical assistants, receptionists, and oncology nurses are the positions with the most turnover during the past year. Responding practices added nurses and medical assistants during the past year. Newly created positions at responding practices include clinical psychologists, lab assistants, LVNs, medical assistants, office coordinators, and receptionists. Some medical records clerks and other nursing positions were eliminated by the responding practices.

Download the survey question/benefits data (as a Word document).

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 Biller, Billing Coordinator/Manager, File Clerk, Laboratory Assistant/Phlebotomist, Medical Assistant, Multi-Purpose Worker, Office Assistant/Clerk, Oncology Nurse, Physician Extender, Radiation Oncology Manager, Radiation Oncology Technologist, Receptionist, Research Manager/Coordinator, and Transcriptionist increased from 2009 to 2011.

The average hourly rate for Administrator/Executive Director, Bookkeeper, Laboratory Manager, Medical Technologist, Pharmacy Technician, and Research Assistant (Non-RN) decreased from 2009 to 2011.

The average hourly rate for Nurse Manager, Other Nursing, and Small Office Manager remained essentially the same from 2009 to 2011.

Download the complete database for the 2011 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).

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