re: Question for Docs/Surgeons/ARNPs

Base + production bonus is normal. No way I'm paying your wife hourly. I want to get through as many patients as I need to and go home and I'd like my employees to have the same attitude. Profit sharing/production incentives do wonders for efficiency.

Not sure what you guys expect an NP or PA to get for call. You aren't real valuable to your employer in this situation. When I'm on call I go in for things that need surgery, urgent/emergent stuff. Your wife can't operate for me. So her 8 days of call are basically acting as a triage secretary to filter out the bull crap that otherwise would have made it to the surgeon's pager/cell phone. I guess there is value in that, maybe $100 per day? $800 a month before taxes?

Your wife needs to talk to other PAs or NPs in the practice. Ask them about pay, production, work environment, etc. The group should have some projections of how she will increase production/collections as well that she should ask for. She has slightly more value than a PA since she can see patients, chart and bill autonomously. Depending on the cases scheduled, I would have clinic patients for her to see on my OR days instead of using her as a first assist. A PA can't do that without one of the partners having to do extra work cosigning his/her charts.

Unless you are going to post the base + bonus numbers, I can't tell you if she's getting ripped off or not...