Physician executive compensation recovers with economy: s-l-o-w-l-y. Single-digit, two-year growth rates reported for most titles.

The latest edition of the Physician Executive Compensation Survey reflects the reality of a slow economic recovery and the uncertainty of health care reform. As self-reported by 2,364 physician executives, compensation grew an average of 7 percent between 2010 and 2012 across all titles. That two-year growth rate is essentially the same as reported in the 2011 survey (6 percent between 2008 and 2010) and was still well below the 12 percent twoyear increase reported in the pre-recession reporting period from 2006 to 2008. Will physician executive compensation ever regain the momentum enjoyed before the recession in this new postreform era? The answer is not clear, but there are strong signals that: