Pay of small-practice managers lags

The median pay for administrators of small and medium-sized practices fell or barely increased last year.

Median pay for administrators in practices with six or fewer doctors fell to $86,459 last year, down 3.9% from 2009's median of $90,000. The median pay for administrators of practices with seven to 25 doctors rose by .28% from $114,680 to $115,000 in 2010.

Administrators in large practices, by contrast, saw their median pay jump 11.7% to $150,756 from 2009's $134,992, according to the Medical Group Management Association's (MGMA) annual management compensation survey.

"Other practice management professionals, such as clinic managers, saw slight increases in compensation.