MGMA analyzes pay for administrative, nursing staff

The Medical Group Management Association included this graph showing clinical staff pay levels in its “2024 MGMA DataDive Management and Staff Compensation” survey report, published June 26, 2024.

Demand for workers remains high in health care and wages continue to rise above the levels before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Medical Group Management Association published its “2024 MGMA DataDive Management and Staff Compensation” survey report with data from more than 171,000 positions. Medical practices have endured rampant turnover and staffing shortages in recent years, and MGMA summarized the labor market conditions as “quite simple: Care demands are surging, and having the right talent to deliver on that demand is a competitive advantage.”

Inflation is pushing up medical spending, but so is greater health care usage by an aging population, along with broader health coverage for patients of all ages, according to the MGMA report.

"Amid heightened patient demand and increased financial pressures, medical group practices continue to face a tight labor market where competition for clinical and administrative roles remains especially difficult," MGMA President and CEO Halee Fischer-Wright, MD, MMM, FAAP, FACMPE, said in a news release. "Compensation increases are essential for attracting and retaining talent, but current financial realities cannot be ignored. Medical groups must seek out innovative solutions that optimize operations and drive efficiencies to counteract increased labor costs while safeguarding patient access to care.”

Among the findings:

• 78% of medical group leaders reported spending more time on recruiting and interviewing in 2023 than in the previous year. That survey data were from late last year.
• 46% of medical groups reported 2024 visit volumes were outpacing 2023. Data were from April 2024.
• 24% of medical groups said there were improvements to patients’ time to appointments in 2023, with 38% holding steady and 38% getting worse.

What they get paid

MGMA analyzed pay trends for 10 positions and found wages rising for all. One-year changes from 2022 to 2023 ranged from 1.98% for senior management positions, to 15.11% for managed care administrative staff. All were up over the last five years, with increases in median total compensation ranging from 9.68% for senior management, the only single-digit five-year growth, to 37.89% for execs.

For clinical staff, the MGMA report said there were some key movements to watch from 2022 to 2023:

• Medical assistants (MAs), while in high demand in recent years, had a 3.13% wage raise from 2022 to last year, down significantly from the 7.09% increase in 2002.
• Median total compensation for registered nurses (RNs) decrease by 3.32% in 2023.
• In 10-year analysis, RN compensation is up 39.19% and MA pay is up 41.36%, with both outpacing the 10-year wage gain of 25.5% for licensed practical nurses.