An Evaluation of Remuneration Patterns in Academic Plastic Surgery.

RESULTS: Eighty-five out of the 282 ACAPS members (30.1%) responded to the survey (Table 1). Eighty participants (94%) reported having mainly a reconstructive practice. The majority of survey participants (69.1%) had a base salary plus a bonus based either on collections or WRVUs (Figure 1). Sixty-three percent of plastic surgeons in the survey received less than $50 as a compensation per WRVU. Sixty-four percent of respondents had benchmark WRVUs of 5000-9000. Seventy-one percent of academic plastic surgery practices reported having an average collection of $500,000-$1,000,000. Sixtyfour percent of practices reported a starting salary of $225,000-$300,000 for new hires out of fellowship. Eleven percent of participants were compensated for taking call, and another 30.5% of participants were compensated for participation in committees, research and publications. Fourteen percent received bonuses based on patient satisfaction and 15.8 % received bonuses based on quality metrics. Seventeen percent of practices reported having a free-standing aesthetic center, with none of the facility fee contributing to their compensation.