Eyeworld

82 | EYEWORLD | SEPTEMBER 2022 P RACTICE MANAGEMENT by John B. Pinto and Corinne Wohl, MHSA, COE About the authors John Pinto President J. Pinto & Associates San Diego, California Corinne Wohl, MHSA, COE President C. Wohl & Associates San Diego California employers were able to fill their ophthalmolo- gist positions within a few months. Since then, a twin bloom in retiring doctors and senior patient populations and a steady decline in job seekers has boosted wage levels sharply. The typical job seeker has multiple offers, which for generalists can approach $400,000 and $600,000 for subspecialists in less desirable markets. If you have been looking for a new physi- cian without any luck, compare your base salary offer to these new realities. If you are a PE-part- nered or health system practice and don't offer a physician partner track, these base wage figures have to be taken higher still. Forty years ago, the starting salary for a general ophthalmologist was around $75,000, close to the median price for a home in Ameri- ca back then. Today, the typical starting salary is around $350,000, which was—at least until the blistering real estate appreciation of the last two pandemic years—about the same as the median price of a home. So we should not be too surprised by these wage figures, which will continue to rise, until there is a material decline in allowable professional fees. I n a world with significantly more MD job listings than MD applicants, an unsurprising portion of our phone calls and emails start like this: "We've been looking for a new partner-track surgeon to join our practice for over a year without a nibble. What can we do next?" The tough, potentially costly answer comes down to five options: • Offer a higher base salary, bonus, and benefits package to compete with other employers. • Sweeten the partnership terms with a lower cost or accelerated buy-in. • Be a more attentive, attractive employer. • Substitute missing MD labor with OD labor. • Relinquish practice growth or succession planning goals. Let's cover each of these in turn. Upping your initial employment offer Starting base wages for a general ophthalmol- ogist slowly rose with inflation until about 10 years ago. During that earlier time, jobs and job seekers were pretty nearly matched. Most doctors got a couple of job offers, and most Continued difficulty hiring physicians

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