Clinicians are making more money despite stagnant reimbursement. Guess how?

Compensation for healthcare providers rose some 4.3% in 2025. The sobering news is that the gain owes more to heavier daily workloads than to bigger per-patient billings. 

That’s according to the latest compensation and productivity survey from AMGA.

The survey report breaks the total increase in clinical compensation into subgroups. It shows primary care up 3.7%, medical specialties 4.3% and surgical specialties 3.2%. 

Commenting on the results, analysts at AMGA (formerly the American Medical Group Association) state the 2025 pay bounce represents a “sustained increase that reflects both growing patient demand and the intensifying competition for clinical talent.”

For the project, AMGA looked at data from 451 medical groups and health systems representing around 188,000 providers. 

Key takeaways from a report summary posted June 24:

Work relative value units (wRVUs) increased 2.4% overall in 2025, and patient visit volume grew 2.0%.

These are signs of genuine demand expansion, the report authors note. However, they add, a closer look at the data reveals a “structural concern.” 

“Over the past several years, provider compensation has increased, but approximately half of the increases have been supported by ongoing growth in wRVU production,” explains Fred Horton, president of AMGA Consulting, in the report summary. “In a marketplace with stagnant reimbursement, this is necessary to afford the increases in total cash compensation—but it is not sustainable.” 

Horton adds: 

‘At some point productivity will top out, and providers are already adjusting their FTE and seeking alternative work arrangements in response to increased workloads.’

While visit volume increased across most specialties, primary care was a notable exception: Visits fell 2.2% in 2025, roughly 60 to 90 fewer visits per physician per year. 

Yet primary care wRVUs still grew 2.0%, and wRVUs per visit rose from 1.86 to 1.94, the report shows. The data suggests primary care physicians are seeing higher-acuity patients, AMGA analysts offer, stating the shift is “likely driven by both E/M coding changes and constrained access to specialists.”

AMGA Consulting senior director Matthew Wells, PhD, remarks:

‘The increase in wRVUs per visit for primary care physicians highlights the need for a strong team-based approach to access. Medical groups need to rethink how advanced practice clinicians and other providers are deployed within their care models.’ 

Compensation for advanced practice clinicians grew 4.1% overall.

Meanwhile this subgroup’s productivity rose 3.0%, “reflecting the expanded clinical role APCs are playing across medical groups,” AMGA says. 

The analysts call out one development for highlighting: The longstanding compensation gap between nurse practitioners and physician assistants in the same specialty settings is closing. In medical specialties, that difference fell from more than $7,000 to under $400. 

To this Kelsi O’Brien, AMGA Consulting vice president, adds:

‘Closing the compensation gap between nurse practitioners and physician assistants will make setting compensation for APCs easier in the future, especially in like settings and specialties.’  

The compensation trends in this year’s survey ‘play out against a difficult policy backdrop.’ 

The report authors observe that several factors—including projected Medicaid and Medicare reductions, a looming physician shortage of up to 86,000 by 2036, and growing workforce expectations around work-life balance—are “converging on medical groups at the same moment that collections growth is trailing compensation.”

Here Horton remarks, in the report summary:  

‘Organizations must focus on eliminating administrative waste and building an operational platform that supports providers at higher productivity levels without compounding burnout.’

AMGA is offering the full report for $4,200.