Money Is a Lesser Source of Gratification
All in all, gastroenterologists' feelings about their compensation mirrored that of the general population of specialists surveyed. Just 48% of gastroenterologists -- and of all specialists -- believe that they are fairly compensated. The remaining 52% believe that their salaries are an inadequate reflection of their efforts. Displeasure has been apparent, and constant, in recent years. In the 2012 Physician Compensation Report, 51% of gastroenterologists said they were fairly compensated, and in the 2011 survey, 52% said the same.
Money is only a minor part of the reward for most physicians, and the percentages of respondents who reported that they were rewarded in other ways were similar among gastroenterologists and the group overall (Table 1).
Table 1. Nonmonetary Rewards: Gastroenterologists vs All Specialists
| Nonmonetary Rewards | Gastroenterologists | All Specialists |
|---|---|---|
| Being good at what I do | 39% | 34% |
| Gratitude/patient relationships | 28% | 31% |
| Making the world a better place | 10% | 12% |
| Good money for a job I like | 10% | 9% |
| Pride in being a doctor | 8% | 7% |
| Other nonmonetary reward | 3% | 5% |
| No gratification | 2% | 2% |
Office Hours
The number of hours spent each week seeing patients changed only slightly from 2012 to 2013 (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Hours spent seeing patients, 2013 and 2012.
How Crowded Is the Waiting Room?
The number of patients seen every week by gastroenterologists varied as follows:
• Fewer than 25 patients: 7%;
• 25-49 patients: 23%;
• 50-75 patients: 27%;
• 76-99 patients: 21%;
• 100-124 patients: 12%;
• 125-149 patients: 5%;
• 150-174 patients: 2%;
• 175-200 patients: 1%;
• More than 200 patients: 1%; and
• Do not see patients: 2%.
The average duration of patient visits and the percentages of gastroenterologists citing these durations are shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3. Number of minutes spent for each office visit.
The amount of time that gastroenterologists devote to their patients has changed little in the past 3 years (Table 2).
Table 2. Gastroenterologist Visit Duration, by Survey Year
| Visit Duration | Survey Year | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | |
| ≤ 12 minutes | 20% | 18% | 17% |
| 13-20 minutes | 49% | 50% | 53% |
| ≥ 21 minutes | 30% | 32% | 30% |
In comparison, in 2013 among all specialists, 25% reported spending up to 12 minutes per patient visit; 51% spent 13-20 minutes; and 21% spent 21 minutes or longer.
Making the Rounds
More than 60% of gastroenterologists spend less than 15 hours weekly seeing patients in the hospital. The breakdown in the number of hours spent each week by gastroenterologists on hospital rounds is as follows:
• < 1 hour: 10%;
• 1-4 hours: 21%;
• 5-9 hours: 21%;
• 10-14 hours: 20%;
• 15-19 hours: 8%;
• 20-24 hours: 9%; and
• 25 hours or more: 12%.
Only 12% of gastroenterologists devote 25 or more hours of their time each week to check in on hospitalized patients, a proportion that is in line with that reported by orthopedists (10%), obstetrician/gynecologists (11%), and neurologists (14%).
The Good News About "Paperwork"
No doubt about it -- in these days of increased mandatory documentation, paperwork (even when electronic) can be disheartening. Like other physicians, gastroenterologists spend many hours on administrative activities and record-keeping (Figure 4).
Figure 4. Weekly number of hours spent on documentation.
Yet, it seems that the amount of time devoted to such tasks did not climb significantly in 2013. Some 46% of gastroenterologists spent 1-9 hours weekly on these nonclinical duties in 2013, compared with 44% the year before. Another 42% said they commit 10-19 hours each week to these duties, the same as was reported the year before. The unluckiest were the 12% of responding gastroenterologists who were besieged by paperwork for 20 or more hours per week; 14% had the same complaint in 2012.