Keep an eye on internal and external salary trends

Knowing how much other practices pay their employees can help you make better decisions about employee wages and benefits. Tracking how your salaries change, and why, can help you determine whether some of those expenses are worthwhile. That knowledge lets you control costs while still competing successfully for the best workers available.

The annual Staff Salary Survey published by Pennsylvania-based consulting firm HCG compiles data on what medical practices pay staffers in more than 20 job categories. Presenting data by geographic region, the Survey shows low, average, and high salaries for each position grouped into three experience levels, according to how long the staffer held the job. The MGMA, PAHCOM, and other societies publish annual surveys of staff salaries and staffing overhead costs as well.

Using such surveys lets you compare most of your individual position salaries with others across the country. But even that data produces an incomplete picture because the price for a registered nurse or a billing clerk can vary considerably within the same region. You can use such studies as a comparison tool, but to develop a truer picture, track your own internal data.