Physician Compensation Plan Development

Southwind Physician Compensation Planning Consultants Align Financial Incentives

The holy grail of health care management is the alignment of physician incentives. Physician compensation plans can be the difference in whether an organization achieves its goals to improve productivity and practice expense management, patient and physician satisfaction and ever more definitive measures of health care quality.

Southwind management consultants have worked with literally hundreds of physician organizations over the past 20 years. Through successful experiences and through the scars of learning from unintended consequences, we are equipped to guide the design, development and implementation of the most appropriate physician compensation plan.

The process begins with a physician practice assessment to benchmark the employed physicians' compensation and productivity against industry norms. Next, a Physician Compensation Steering Committee is established to, as a first step, review and probe Southwind's assessment findings and recommendations. Next, the committee identifies priorities and goals for the physician compensation plan as well as alternative models of physician alignment and compensation. Once a preferred compensation model(s) is selected, Southwind analysts prepare detailed financial models illustrating the impact of the physician new compensation plan design based on recent actual performance. Through an iterative process of making adjustments based on pro forma results achieved, the model is perfected.

Physician organizations are well served by outside, objective, consultative assistance with physician compensation plan design. Southwind has a proven process and the expertise to facilitate a physician compensation plan tailored to the physician group's needs.