In part one of this two-part series on physician extenders (PE), we reviewed some of the basic issues involved in identification, hiring and integration into the practice. Now that you have made the transition, the next logical question is how should the PE be compensated?
In the dermatology practice, PEs are most commonly PA-Cs; however they can also be ARNPs, RNs, or even CMA/CNAs. Significantly, there is a difference between PAs and ARNPs versus other types of PEs. PAs and NPs are “non-physician providers” (NPPs), who are trained to practice medicine and surgery. RNs, LPNs or CMA/CNAs, etc. are not practitioners of medicine, and they must operate under strict guidelines that are determined on a state-by-state basis. They do however play intricate roles in providing some cosmetic services, i.e. laser hair removal, in the dermatology practice.
PEs as a whole help dermatologists meet the needs of their patients by increasing appointment availability and thus enable them to practice more efficiently, allowing for additional income or free time for dermatologists. Compensation for PEs is a widely reviewed, debated and analyzed area, in many ways similar to that of physician compensation. What is the best compensation plan including benefits for PEs? Should all types of PEs be compensated in the same way? And, what about incentives?
Wages
There is no specific formula regarding wages. Some practices compensate their PEs simply by salary; others use a salary plus a production bonus (either for individualized production or total practice performance). Others treat them as hourly support staff. Another way of compensating PEs is by a complicated formula that considers some or all of the following: overall performance, number of patients seen, overall office productivity, merit or employer generosity/whim.
PEs are different from office and support staff, as they are providers of service; their personal efforts create revenue, therefore they create income for a practice. Because of this, compensating PEs differently from regular staff is advisable, regardless of the titles of the PEs. If they are working as providers of service, they should be compensated for those efforts. The method chosen to compensate PEs should be easy enough for all parties to understand, rather than a vague, convoluted formula that has a qualitative, rather than quantitative, focus.
A compensation plan that provides incentives for the PE is often the best. Most commonly, production (money) is a good incentive. If a compensation plan is designed so the PE can easily see how increasing production will result in an increase in the take-home paycheck, the PE will rise to the challenge and both the PE and the practice will profit. If a provider is paid a flat salary, where is the incentive to work harder and more efficiently?
Generally, it’s recommended that a PE undergoing training receive a salary rather than an incentive plan during the training period, usually 1 to 2 years. For example, if you hire a new PA without dermatology specific experience, his or her contract could state he or she will be paid a flat salary for the first year, with contract re-negotiation at the end of that first year. A salary for the first year helps the PE receive a stable income while learning the specialty of dermatology, understanding your particular style of practice, expanding the practice patient base, and filling his or her own schedule.
In contrast, if you have an RN or CMA/CNA that works, for example, part-time as a provider of cosmetic services and part-time as an assistant to the dermatologist in surgeries, the employee could be compensated for each separately. For example, pay the employee an hourly wage, just like any other employee, for the surgical assistance. Then, use an incentive compensation plan for the time spent providing cosmetic services.
Incentive Details
Incentive compensation plans can vary to fit the specifics of each practice. However, some basic components should be the same. Compensation is based upon actual collections received. For virtually all practices, it does not make sense to pay a percentage of total production because the practice probably will not collect 100% of production. This is due to the nature of insurance discounts, uncollectible amounts/bad debt, etc. By paying on a percentage-of-collections basis, the practice is basing actual pay on actual monies received.
So, how do you decide how much of a percentage to pay? This is really practice specific, and can vary by PE title, experience, duration of employment, etc. With a notable exception of some ARNPs, the percentage is generally less than the percentage paid to physician providers.
In the situation of an independent practice authority (IPA) ARNP, it will probably be very close or equal to physician compensation. In those states where this practice independence exists, the difference between physicians and nurse practitioners to the patient public is blurred. Even though most ARNPs choose to practice with physicians, there is no legal obligation to do so, thus they may be expected to be compensated the same as employed physicians.
For PA-Cs who work under the supervising physician’s license, it will typically be structured either as a portion of total clinic production; or as a portion of personal production (collections). In either case, there is a direct link between work effort and reward.
RNs, LPNs and CMA/CNAs, while not technically NPPs, are capable of generating income as a direct result of their work effort when they bill patients for their time. They are also working under the physician’s direct supervision, and as such, the physician’s malpractice and license. This has an effect on the percentage of collections these employees should receive.
Generally, their percentage is based on a formula that reflects an hourly rate of pay. For example, if the going rate for RNs in the community is $30/hour, then a “floor” of $30/hour is used to calculate production. If an RN is performing laser hair removal, for example, and generates $100/hour and is compensated at 30% that equals the target of $30/hr. If the RN works especially hard, and can generate $200/hr., then compensation would be equivalent to $60/hr. This is the incentive nature of a production percentage program.
Choosing a Fair Pay Scale
When deciding what percentages at which to set a PE, review the salary guidelines provided by your local or state Medical Group Manager’s Association (MGMA) or the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA). The AAPA publishes the mean, standard deviation, 10th percentile, 25th percentile, median, 75th percentile, and 90th percentile of PA income by years as a PA.
For 2004, according to AAPA, the mean salary for PAs practicing for 1 to 3 years was $96,702. When looking at data provided by the MGMA or AAPA remember that this includes all PAs in general practice and all specialties combined. Furthermore, the MGMA data are comprised primarily of wage information for RNs and CMA/CNAs that is for physician support/assistant duties only, not for providers of service.
Review the total production/collections of the PE for the prior year and determine what percentage of collections gets the PE into the range that you want. Set his or her compensation plan at that percentage point — or perhaps a point or two higher. If you have never had a PE before, do the same calculations on expected production and collections.
To set the percentage of a PE other than a PA-C, you can still use the salary data for PAs as a starting point. For example, a full-time RN who works in the practice as a support RN may gross approximately $58,000 annually. An RN who works as a PE should be compensated more. If you set compensation for a PA-C at X% of collections, set an RN several percentage points below (Y) that amount (X% - Y).
Implementing an incentive Plan
To ensure that the PE receives a regular paycheck every 2 weeks, simply set a “base” amount that the employee will be paid on regularly scheduled paydays. These amounts will be subtracted from the month-end reconciliation as they have already been paid, and the balance remaining is the PEs “incentive bonus” (actually the amount due to the PE from his or her production). Remember that all compensation should be run through the regular payroll system and the appropriate taxes should be withheld. This is typically not a situation that would qualify as an independent contractor status.
Also, when a new PE switches over to an incentive plan from a straight salary, the PE should receive the percentage on monies collected from that date-of-service forward. Often, PEs think that the first month they switch over they will receive nice big incentive bonuses; however, because of insurance this is not the case. If for example, a surgical PA switches from straight salary to production, it might be 45 to 60 days, on average, before the insurance company pays for that date of service.
Your practice management system should be able to run a report that shows which dates-of-service correlate to the monies collected in a single month. Use that report to allocate how much of the total collections the PE will be compensated. For example, say a PE switches over to the incentive plan April 1 and his or her services are billed to insurance. The PE’s incentive plan would be upside down for the first few months. (See Example of Implementing an Incentive Plan below.)
Benefits
As almost all PEs are contracted “highly compensated” employees, the scope of their benefits can be negotiated upon signing. Some offices will offer their PEs the same benefits as regular employees, while other offices negotiate benefits as terms in the contract. While perhaps medical, dental, life, short-term disability, and retirement benefits are the same as other employees in the office; PEs should also have benefits provided for CME training, certification and association dues.
Remember to calculate these costs into the production compensation formula!
If you want your PE to provide the highest level of care possible, you will need to provide an allowance for continued education and skill development. For example, even if you have a PE who is proficient in Botox and laser services, there are always new and improved injection techniques or updated laser techniques to learn. Providing a modest allowance for seminar/symposium registration is a little thing; however, it shows the PE that you are interested in helping him or her further develop his or her skills. This, in-turn, will benefit the PE and your practice as well.
Sponsored memberships to applicable associations are also great benefits to offer your PEs. Fees often are not very expensive and are definitely worth the cost for the benefits the associations will provide to your PEs. Associations provide a valuable resource for your employees for education, networking and self-development.
In providing this benefit, ensure that the association is applicable to what the PE is doing for your clinic. For example, a PA may be interested in joining a society for obstetrics simply because they are interested in that field. An obstetrics society is not going to provide resources that will benefit your dermatology office. Instead, offer to provide a membership to the Society of Dermatology Physician Assistants. For RNs and CMA/CNAs, there is the Dermatology Nurses Association.
Benefits of Using a PE
Overall, using PEs in your office can bring much-needed relief to the practice by providing another resource where patients can be seen and treated. Embark on the plan to wisely implement PEs into the practice by developing a compensation plan that works for the practice (you), provides incentive motivation for the PE, and is easy to understand by all parties involved.
Offering additional benefits for PEs, such as CME and an association membership fee allowance, provides goodwill and encourages self-development. You, your practice, and the PE will all benefit.
In part one of this two-part series on physician extenders (PE), we reviewed some of the basic issues involved in identification, hiring and integration into the practice. Now that you have made the transition, the next logical question is how should the PE be compensated?
In the dermatology practice, PEs are most commonly PA-Cs; however they can also be ARNPs, RNs, or even CMA/CNAs. Significantly, there is a difference between PAs and ARNPs versus other types of PEs. PAs and NPs are “non-physician providers” (NPPs), who are trained to practice medicine and surgery. RNs, LPNs or CMA/CNAs, etc. are not practitioners of medicine, and they must operate under strict guidelines that are determined on a state-by-state basis. They do however play intricate roles in providing some cosmetic services, i.e. laser hair removal, in the dermatology practice.
PEs as a whole help dermatologists meet the needs of their patients by increasing appointment availability and thus enable them to practice more efficiently, allowing for additional income or free time for dermatologists. Compensation for PEs is a widely reviewed, debated and analyzed area, in many ways similar to that of physician compensation. What is the best compensation plan including benefits for PEs? Should all types of PEs be compensated in the same way? And, what about incentives?
Wages
There is no specific formula regarding wages. Some practices compensate their PEs simply by salary; others use a salary plus a production bonus (either for individualized production or total practice performance). Others treat them as hourly support staff. Another way of compensating PEs is by a complicated formula that considers some or all of the following: overall performance, number of patients seen, overall office productivity, merit or employer generosity/whim.
PEs are different from office and support staff, as they are providers of service; their personal efforts create revenue, therefore they create income for a practice. Because of this, compensating PEs differently from regular staff is advisable, regardless of the titles of the PEs. If they are working as providers of service, they should be compensated for those efforts. The method chosen to compensate PEs should be easy enough for all parties to understand, rather than a vague, convoluted formula that has a qualitative, rather than quantitative, focus.
A compensation plan that provides incentives for the PE is often the best. Most commonly, production (money) is a good incentive. If a compensation plan is designed so the PE can easily see how increasing production will result in an increase in the take-home paycheck, the PE will rise to the challenge and both the PE and the practice will profit. If a provider is paid a flat salary, where is the incentive to work harder and more efficiently?
Generally, it’s recommended that a PE undergoing training receive a salary rather than an incentive plan during the training period, usually 1 to 2 years. For example, if you hire a new PA without dermatology specific experience, his or her contract could state he or she will be paid a flat salary for the first year, with contract re-negotiation at the end of that first year. A salary for the first year helps the PE receive a stable income while learning the specialty of dermatology, understanding your particular style of practice, expanding the practice patient base, and filling his or her own schedule.
In contrast, if you have an RN or CMA/CNA that works, for example, part-time as a provider of cosmetic services and part-time as an assistant to the dermatologist in surgeries, the employee could be compensated for each separately. For example, pay the employee an hourly wage, just like any other employee, for the surgical assistance. Then, use an incentive compensation plan for the time spent providing cosmetic services.
Incentive Details
Incentive compensation plans can vary to fit the specifics of each practice. However, some basic components should be the same. Compensation is based upon actual collections received. For virtually all practices, it does not make sense to pay a percentage of total production because the practice probably will not collect 100% of production. This is due to the nature of insurance discounts, uncollectible amounts/bad debt, etc. By paying on a percentage-of-collections basis, the practice is basing actual pay on actual monies received.
So, how do you decide how much of a percentage to pay? This is really practice specific, and can vary by PE title, experience, duration of employment, etc. With a notable exception of some ARNPs, the percentage is generally less than the percentage paid to physician providers.
In the situation of an independent practice authority (IPA) ARNP, it will probably be very close or equal to physician compensation. In those states where this practice independence exists, the difference between physicians and nurse practitioners to the patient public is blurred. Even though most ARNPs choose to practice with physicians, there is no legal obligation to do so, thus they may be expected to be compensated the same as employed physicians.
For PA-Cs who work under the supervising physician’s license, it will typically be structured either as a portion of total clinic production; or as a portion of personal production (collections). In either case, there is a direct link between work effort and reward.
RNs, LPNs and CMA/CNAs, while not technically NPPs, are capable of generating income as a direct result of their work effort when they bill patients for their time. They are also working under the physician’s direct supervision, and as such, the physician’s malpractice and license. This has an effect on the percentage of collections these employees should receive.
Generally, their percentage is based on a formula that reflects an hourly rate of pay. For example, if the going rate for RNs in the community is $30/hour, then a “floor” of $30/hour is used to calculate production. If an RN is performing laser hair removal, for example, and generates $100/hour and is compensated at 30% that equals the target of $30/hr. If the RN works especially hard, and can generate $200/hr., then compensation would be equivalent to $60/hr. This is the incentive nature of a production percentage program.
Choosing a Fair Pay Scale
When deciding what percentages at which to set a PE, review the salary guidelines provided by your local or state Medical Group Manager’s Association (MGMA) or the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA). The AAPA publishes the mean, standard deviation, 10th percentile, 25th percentile, median, 75th percentile, and 90th percentile of PA income by years as a PA.
For 2004, according to AAPA, the mean salary for PAs practicing for 1 to 3 years was $96,702. When looking at data provided by the MGMA or AAPA remember that this includes all PAs in general practice and all specialties combined. Furthermore, the MGMA data are comprised primarily of wage information for RNs and CMA/CNAs that is for physician support/assistant duties only, not for providers of service.
Review the total production/collections of the PE for the prior year and determine what percentage of collections gets the PE into the range that you want. Set his or her compensation plan at that percentage point — or perhaps a point or two higher. If you have never had a PE before, do the same calculations on expected production and collections.
To set the percentage of a PE other than a PA-C, you can still use the salary data for PAs as a starting point. For example, a full-time RN who works in the practice as a support RN may gross approximately $58,000 annually. An RN who works as a PE should be compensated more. If you set compensation for a PA-C at X% of collections, set an RN several percentage points below (Y) that amount (X% - Y).
Implementing an incentive Plan
To ensure that the PE receives a regular paycheck every 2 weeks, simply set a “base” amount that the employee will be paid on regularly scheduled paydays. These amounts will be subtracted from the month-end reconciliation as they have already been paid, and the balance remaining is the PEs “incentive bonus” (actually the amount due to the PE from his or her production). Remember that all compensation should be run through the regular payroll system and the appropriate taxes should be withheld. This is typically not a situation that would qualify as an independent contractor status.
Also, when a new PE switches over to an incentive plan from a straight salary, the PE should receive the percentage on monies collected from that date-of-service forward. Often, PEs think that the first month they switch over they will receive nice big incentive bonuses; however, because of insurance this is not the case. If for example, a surgical PA switches from straight salary to production, it might be 45 to 60 days, on average, before the insurance company pays for that date of service.
Your practice management system should be able to run a report that shows which dates-of-service correlate to the monies collected in a single month. Use that report to allocate how much of the total collections the PE will be compensated. For example, say a PE switches over to the incentive plan April 1 and his or her services are billed to insurance. The PE’s incentive plan would be upside down for the first few months. (See Example of Implementing an Incentive Plan below.)
Benefits
As almost all PEs are contracted “highly compensated” employees, the scope of their benefits can be negotiated upon signing. Some offices will offer their PEs the same benefits as regular employees, while other offices negotiate benefits as terms in the contract. While perhaps medical, dental, life, short-term disability, and retirement benefits are the same as other employees in the office; PEs should also have benefits provided for CME training, certification and association dues.
Remember to calculate these costs into the production compensation formula!
If you want your PE to provide the highest level of care possible, you will need to provide an allowance for continued education and skill development. For example, even if you have a PE who is proficient in Botox and laser services, there are always new and improved injection techniques or updated laser techniques to learn. Providing a modest allowance for seminar/symposium registration is a little thing; however, it shows the PE that you are interested in helping him or her further develop his or her skills. This, in-turn, will benefit the PE and your practice as well.
Sponsored memberships to applicable associations are also great benefits to offer your PEs. Fees often are not very expensive and are definitely worth the cost for the benefits the associations will provide to your PEs. Associations provide a valuable resource for your employees for education, networking and self-development.
In providing this benefit, ensure that the association is applicable to what the PE is doing for your clinic. For example, a PA may be interested in joining a society for obstetrics simply because they are interested in that field. An obstetrics society is not going to provide resources that will benefit your dermatology office. Instead, offer to provide a membership to the Society of Dermatology Physician Assistants. For RNs and CMA/CNAs, there is the Dermatology Nurses Association.
Benefits of Using a PE
Overall, using PEs in your office can bring much-needed relief to the practice by providing another resource where patients can be seen and treated. Embark on the plan to wisely implement PEs into the practice by developing a compensation plan that works for the practice (you), provides incentive motivation for the PE, and is easy to understand by all parties involved.
Offering additional benefits for PEs, such as CME and an association membership fee allowance, provides goodwill and encourages self-development. You, your practice, and the PE will all benefit.
In part one of this two-part series on physician extenders (PE), we reviewed some of the basic issues involved in identification, hiring and integration into the practice. Now that you have made the transition, the next logical question is how should the PE be compensated?
In the dermatology practice, PEs are most commonly PA-Cs; however they can also be ARNPs, RNs, or even CMA/CNAs. Significantly, there is a difference between PAs and ARNPs versus other types of PEs. PAs and NPs are “non-physician providers” (NPPs), who are trained to practice medicine and surgery. RNs, LPNs or CMA/CNAs, etc. are not practitioners of medicine, and they must operate under strict guidelines that are determined on a state-by-state basis. They do however play intricate roles in providing some cosmetic services, i.e. laser hair removal, in the dermatology practice.
PEs as a whole help dermatologists meet the needs of their patients by increasing appointment availability and thus enable them to practice more efficiently, allowing for additional income or free time for dermatologists. Compensation for PEs is a widely reviewed, debated and analyzed area, in many ways similar to that of physician compensation. What is the best compensation plan including benefits for PEs? Should all types of PEs be compensated in the same way? And, what about incentives?
Wages
There is no specific formula regarding wages. Some practices compensate their PEs simply by salary; others use a salary plus a production bonus (either for individualized production or total practice performance). Others treat them as hourly support staff. Another way of compensating PEs is by a complicated formula that considers some or all of the following: overall performance, number of patients seen, overall office productivity, merit or employer generosity/whim.
PEs are different from office and support staff, as they are providers of service; their personal efforts create revenue, therefore they create income for a practice. Because of this, compensating PEs differently from regular staff is advisable, regardless of the titles of the PEs. If they are working as providers of service, they should be compensated for those efforts. The method chosen to compensate PEs should be easy enough for all parties to understand, rather than a vague, convoluted formula that has a qualitative, rather than quantitative, focus.
A compensation plan that provides incentives for the PE is often the best. Most commonly, production (money) is a good incentive. If a compensation plan is designed so the PE can easily see how increasing production will result in an increase in the take-home paycheck, the PE will rise to the challenge and both the PE and the practice will profit. If a provider is paid a flat salary, where is the incentive to work harder and more efficiently?
Generally, it’s recommended that a PE undergoing training receive a salary rather than an incentive plan during the training period, usually 1 to 2 years. For example, if you hire a new PA without dermatology specific experience, his or her contract could state he or she will be paid a flat salary for the first year, with contract re-negotiation at the end of that first year. A salary for the first year helps the PE receive a stable income while learning the specialty of dermatology, understanding your particular style of practice, expanding the practice patient base, and filling his or her own schedule.
In contrast, if you have an RN or CMA/CNA that works, for example, part-time as a provider of cosmetic services and part-time as an assistant to the dermatologist in surgeries, the employee could be compensated for each separately. For example, pay the employee an hourly wage, just like any other employee, for the surgical assistance. Then, use an incentive compensation plan for the time spent providing cosmetic services.
Incentive Details
Incentive compensation plans can vary to fit the specifics of each practice. However, some basic components should be the same. Compensation is based upon actual collections received. For virtually all practices, it does not make sense to pay a percentage of total production because the practice probably will not collect 100% of production. This is due to the nature of insurance discounts, uncollectible amounts/bad debt, etc. By paying on a percentage-of-collections basis, the practice is basing actual pay on actual monies received.
So, how do you decide how much of a percentage to pay? This is really practice specific, and can vary by PE title, experience, duration of employment, etc. With a notable exception of some ARNPs, the percentage is generally less than the percentage paid to physician providers.
In the situation of an independent practice authority (IPA) ARNP, it will probably be very close or equal to physician compensation. In those states where this practice independence exists, the difference between physicians and nurse practitioners to the patient public is blurred. Even though most ARNPs choose to practice with physicians, there is no legal obligation to do so, thus they may be expected to be compensated the same as employed physicians.
For PA-Cs who work under the supervising physician’s license, it will typically be structured either as a portion of total clinic production; or as a portion of personal production (collections). In either case, there is a direct link between work effort and reward.
RNs, LPNs and CMA/CNAs, while not technically NPPs, are capable of generating income as a direct result of their work effort when they bill patients for their time. They are also working under the physician’s direct supervision, and as such, the physician’s malpractice and license. This has an effect on the percentage of collections these employees should receive.
Generally, their percentage is based on a formula that reflects an hourly rate of pay. For example, if the going rate for RNs in the community is $30/hour, then a “floor” of $30/hour is used to calculate production. If an RN is performing laser hair removal, for example, and generates $100/hour and is compensated at 30% that equals the target of $30/hr. If the RN works especially hard, and can generate $200/hr., then compensation would be equivalent to $60/hr. This is the incentive nature of a production percentage program.
Choosing a Fair Pay Scale
When deciding what percentages at which to set a PE, review the salary guidelines provided by your local or state Medical Group Manager’s Association (MGMA) or the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA). The AAPA publishes the mean, standard deviation, 10th percentile, 25th percentile, median, 75th percentile, and 90th percentile of PA income by years as a PA.
For 2004, according to AAPA, the mean salary for PAs practicing for 1 to 3 years was $96,702. When looking at data provided by the MGMA or AAPA remember that this includes all PAs in general practice and all specialties combined. Furthermore, the MGMA data are comprised primarily of wage information for RNs and CMA/CNAs that is for physician support/assistant duties only, not for providers of service.
Review the total production/collections of the PE for the prior year and determine what percentage of collections gets the PE into the range that you want. Set his or her compensation plan at that percentage point — or perhaps a point or two higher. If you have never had a PE before, do the same calculations on expected production and collections.
To set the percentage of a PE other than a PA-C, you can still use the salary data for PAs as a starting point. For example, a full-time RN who works in the practice as a support RN may gross approximately $58,000 annually. An RN who works as a PE should be compensated more. If you set compensation for a PA-C at X% of collections, set an RN several percentage points below (Y) that amount (X% - Y).
Implementing an incentive Plan
To ensure that the PE receives a regular paycheck every 2 weeks, simply set a “base” amount that the employee will be paid on regularly scheduled paydays. These amounts will be subtracted from the month-end reconciliation as they have already been paid, and the balance remaining is the PEs “incentive bonus” (actually the amount due to the PE from his or her production). Remember that all compensation should be run through the regular payroll system and the appropriate taxes should be withheld. This is typically not a situation that would qualify as an independent contractor status.
Also, when a new PE switches over to an incentive plan from a straight salary, the PE should receive the percentage on monies collected from that date-of-service forward. Often, PEs think that the first month they switch over they will receive nice big incentive bonuses; however, because of insurance this is not the case. If for example, a surgical PA switches from straight salary to production, it might be 45 to 60 days, on average, before the insurance company pays for that date of service.
Your practice management system should be able to run a report that shows which dates-of-service correlate to the monies collected in a single month. Use that report to allocate how much of the total collections the PE will be compensated. For example, say a PE switches over to the incentive plan April 1 and his or her services are billed to insurance. The PE’s incentive plan would be upside down for the first few months. (See Example of Implementing an Incentive Plan below.)
Benefits
As almost all PEs are contracted “highly compensated” employees, the scope of their benefits can be negotiated upon signing. Some offices will offer their PEs the same benefits as regular employees, while other offices negotiate benefits as terms in the contract. While perhaps medical, dental, life, short-term disability, and retirement benefits are the same as other employees in the office; PEs should also have benefits provided for CME training, certification and association dues.
Remember to calculate these costs into the production compensation formula!
If you want your PE to provide the highest level of care possible, you will need to provide an allowance for continued education and skill development. For example, even if you have a PE who is proficient in Botox and laser services, there are always new and improved injection techniques or updated laser techniques to learn. Providing a modest allowance for seminar/symposium registration is a little thing; however, it shows the PE that you are interested in helping him or her further develop his or her skills. This, in-turn, will benefit the PE and your practice as well.
Sponsored memberships to applicable associations are also great benefits to offer your PEs. Fees often are not very expensive and are definitely worth the cost for the benefits the associations will provide to your PEs. Associations provide a valuable resource for your employees for education, networking and self-development.
In providing this benefit, ensure that the association is applicable to what the PE is doing for your clinic. For example, a PA may be interested in joining a society for obstetrics simply because they are interested in that field. An obstetrics society is not going to provide resources that will benefit your dermatology office. Instead, offer to provide a membership to the Society of Dermatology Physician Assistants. For RNs and CMA/CNAs, there is the Dermatology Nurses Association.
Benefits of Using a PE
Overall, using PEs in your office can bring much-needed relief to the practice by providing another resource where patients can be seen and treated. Embark on the plan to wisely implement PEs into the practice by developing a compensation plan that works for the practice (you), provides incentive motivation for the PE, and is easy to understand by all parties involved.
Offering additional benefits for PEs, such as CME and an association membership fee allowance, provides goodwill and encourages self-development. You, your practice, and the PE will all benefit.
