A Structured Compensation Plan Results in Equitable Physician Compensation: A Single-Center Analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To assess adherence to and individual or systematic deviations from predicted physician compensation by gender or race/ethnicity at a large academic medical center that uses a salary-only structured compensation model incorporating national benchmarks and clear standardized pay steps and increments. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: All permanent staff physicians employed at Mayo Clinic medical practices in Minnesota, Arizona, and Florida who served in clinical roles as of January 2017. Each physician's pay, demographics, specialty, full-time equivalent status, benchmark pay for the specialty, leadership role(s), and other factors that may influence compensation within the plan were collected and analyzed. For each individual, the natural log of pay was used to determine predicted pay and 95% CI based on the structured compensation plan, compared with their actual salary. RESULTS: Among 2845 physicians (861 women, 722 nonwhites), pay equity was affirmed in 96% (n=2730). Of the 80 physicians (2.8%) with higher and 35 (1.2%) with lower than predicted pay, there was no interaction with gender or race/ethnicity. More men (31.4%; 623 of 1984) than women (15.9%; 137 of 861) held or had held a compensable leadership position. More men (34.7%; 688 of 1984) than women (20.5%; 177 of 861) were represented in the most highly compensated specialties. CONCLUSION: A structured compensation model was successfully applied to all physicians at a multisite large academic medical system and resulted in pay equity. However, achieving overall gender pay equality will only be fully realized when women achieve parity in the ranks of the most highly compensated specialties and in leadership roles.

Social support and factors associated with self-efficacy among acute-care nurse practitioners.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To investigate the relationship of nurse practitioners' social support as well as other factors associated with perceived self-efficacy. BACKGROUND: There is a growing demand for nurse practitioners in Taiwan, for whom self-perceived efficacy is associated with performance. Nevertheless, research on the self-efficacy and social support of nurse practitioners is limited. DESIGN: This is a cross-sectional survey study. METHODS: Questionnaires were distributed to nurse practitioners in seven hospitals in northern Taiwan from May 2015 to March 2016. In total, data from 335 (78% return rate) certified nurse practitioners were analysed. Social support was measured by the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) and the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ), and perceived self-efficacy was measured by the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE). Data were analysed by ANOVAs with post hoc test and multiple linear regression. RESULTS: The mean score for self-efficacy was 27.60 ± 6.17. Support scores were 11.574 ± 2.37 for supervisors, 12.795 ± 1.92 for coworkers and 64.07 ± 10.16 for family, friends and significant others. nurse practitioners in the high monthly salary group had significantly higher self-efficacy than nurse practitioners in the medium and low monthly salary group (F = 8.99; p < .01). Social support from coworkers (ß = 0.18, p < .01) and family, friends and significant others (ß = 0.15, p < .01) and a higher monthly salary were significant factors. CONCLUSIONS: The self-efficacy of nurse practitioners in hospitals in Taiwan is insufficient. Monthly salary and levels of social support were found to contribute to nurse practitioners' self-efficacy. Thus, to enhance nurse practitioners' self-efficacy and work performance, nursing leaders should address these issues. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The findings inform hospital administrators to be aware of the importance of salary in relation to nurse practitioners' perceptions of social support and self-efficacy.

Economía informal, un problema de salud laboral / The informal economy: an occupational health issue

La economía informal se debe diferenciar de conceptos tales como empleo informal y sector informal, cada uno con sus propias características. Existen varios tipos de trabajadores informales que se agrupan en varias categorías según su labor. Los familiares de estos trabajadores se agrupan dentro del empleo vulnerable, que no se benefician tampoco de coberturas sanitarias. El empleo informal condiciona una gran morbimortalidad que se traduce en pérdidas económicas y gran número de años de vida perdidos por discapacidad, especialmente entre poblaciones jóvenes y mujeres. Son necesarias políticas sanitarias encaminadas a disminuir las desigualdades socioeconómicas, mejorando la capacitación de profesionales sanitarios y la accesibilidad a los servicios sanitarios de estos trabajadores

Informal economy must be differentiated from concepts such as informal employment and the informal sector, each with its own characteristics. There are several types of informal workers that are grouped into several categories according to their work. The families of these workers are grouped into vulnerable job, which is also not beneficial for health coverage. Informal working conditions mean great morbidity resulting in economic losses and a large number of quality-adjusted life year, especially among young populations and women. Health policies are needed to reduce socio-economic inequalities, improve the training of health professionals and the accessibility of health services to these workers

A comparison of dental hygienists' salaries to state dental supervision levels.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of dental supervision on registered dental hygienists' salaries in the 50 states and District of Columbia by comparing the average dental hygiene salaries from the largest metropolitan city within each state from May 2011, the most recent valid data, in relation to the required level of dental supervision. METHODS: A retrospective contrasted-group quasi-experimental design analysis was conducted using the most current mean dental hygiene salaries for the largest metropolitan city within each state and the District of Columbia which was matched to the appropriate dental supervision level. In addition, a dental assisting salary control group was utilized and correlated to the appropriate dental hygienist salary in the same metropolitan city and state. Samples were obtained from the U.S. Department of Labor. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) statistical analysis was utilized to assess the relationship of the 5 levels of dentist supervision, with the registered dental hygienist salaries. The MANOVA analysis was also utilized to assess the control group, dental assistant salaries. RESULTS: No statistically significant results were found among the dental supervision levels on the measures of dental hygiene salaries and dental assistant salaries. Wilks's Λ=0.81, F (8, 90)=1.29, p=0.26. Analyses of variances (ANOVA) on the dependent variables were also conducted as follow-up tests to the MANOVA. CONCLUSION: Study results suggest dental hygienists who are required to have a dentist on the premises to complete any dental treatment obtain similar salaries to those dental hygienists who are allowed to work in some settings unsupervised by a dentist. Therefore, dental supervision does not seem to have an impact on dental hygienists' salaries.

Payday for payers. Compensation of the top execs at investor-owned insurers outpaced that of the leaders at hospitals and specialty care.

Top executives at investor-owned hospital chains saw their compensation packages take a hit last year, amid the debt-ceiling crisis and concerns over how it might affect Medicare. Wayne Smith at Community Health Systems led the pack in that sector, with a $21 million payday, while Trevor Fetter, left, of Tenet, came in a distant second with $10.7 million.