Private Practice - ASHA

Private Practice

Jeanette Janota, Surveys & Analysis American Speech-Language-Hearing Association 2200 Research Boulevard Rockville, MD 20850-3289 800-498-2071, ext. 8738 [email protected]

ASHA 2012 Audiology Survey: Private Practice Report

Contents Executive Summary .....................................................................................................................1 Who They Are ...............................................................................................................................2 Involvement in Private Practice ......................................................................................2 Type of Practice .................................................................................................................2 Annual or Hourly..............................................................................................................2 Primary Facility .................................................................................................................2 Highest Degree ..................................................................................................................2 Primary Function ..............................................................................................................2 Region of the Country ......................................................................................................3 Population Setting.............................................................................................................3 What They Earn: Annual Salaries .............................................................................................3 Change in Reporting.........................................................................................................3 Owner or Employee ..........................................................................................................3 Private Practice Type ........................................................................................................4 Highest Degree ..................................................................................................................4 Years of Experience ...........................................................................................................4 Region of the Country ......................................................................................................5 Population Setting.............................................................................................................5 What They Earn: Hourly Wages ................................................................................................6 Owner or Employee ..........................................................................................................6 Private Practice Type ........................................................................................................6 Other Predictors ................................................................................................................7 Bundling Charges .............................................................................................................7 What They Earn: Commissions and Bonuses .........................................................................8 What They Say ..............................................................................................................................9 About ASHA ......................................................................................................................9 About Service Provision...................................................................................................9 About Supervising ..........................................................................................................10 About Serving Multicultural Populations ...................................................................10 About Telepractice ..........................................................................................................10 About Marketing .............................................................................................................11 About Finding ASHA CEUs ..........................................................................................11 Survey Notes and Methodology .............................................................................................12 Response Rate ..................................................................................................................12 Audiology Survey Reports ............................................................................................12 ii


Electronic Copy...........................................................................................................................13 Suggested Citation .....................................................................................................................13 Supplemental Sources...............................................................................................................13 Additional Information ............................................................................................................13 Thank You ...................................................................................................................................13 Tables Table 1: Table 2: Table 3: Table 4: Table 5: Table 6: Table 7: Table 8: Table 9: Table 10:

Median Annual Salary by Private Practice Type .......................................4 Median Annual Salary by Highest Degree .................................................4 Median Annual Salary by Years of Experience ..........................................4 Median Annual Salary by Region of the Country......................................5 Median Annual Salary by Population Setting ............................................5 Median Hourly Wages by Private Practice Type .......................................6 Median Hourly Wage for Employees ..........................................................7 Services Provided ............................................................................................9 Promoting Professional Services.................................................................11 Finding Courses for ASHA CEUs ..............................................................11

Figure Figure 1: Cultural Qualifications .................................................................................10

iii


Executive Summary

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) conducted a survey of audiologists in the fall of 2012. This survey was designed to provide information about salaries, working conditions, and service delivery, as well as to update and expand information gathered from previous Audiology Surveys. The results are presented in a series of reports. This report is limited to responses from audiologists in private practice. Highlights: 

39% of the audiologists who worked in private practice were owners.



70% of private practice audiologists received an annual salary.



55% of private practice audiologists held an AuD degree.



47% of private practice audiologists worked in a suburban area.



The median annual salary for self-employed owners was $84,768.



Median annual salaries were highest in the West ($89,837) and Northeast ($89,597) for owners and in the Northeast for employees ($75,591).



The median hourly wage was $35.00 for employees.



78% of the audiologists who dispensed hearing aids said that they bundled all charges for services and products.



The median commission was $15,371 for employees.



94% of owners and 89% of employees fit and dispensed hearing aids.



74% of owners and 68% of employees promoted their professional serviced through a website.



E-mail was the most common way to find courses for ASHA CEUs for both owners and employees.

1


Who They Are Involvement in Private Practice*

Type of Practice**

Annual or Hourly*

Primary Facility*

The data in this report were gathered from 751 audiologists who indicated on the 2012 Audiology Survey that they worked in a private practice setting. Of that group:    

39% were owners. 37% were full-time salaried employees. 13% were part-time salaried employees. 11% were contractors/consultants (e.g., per diem, temporary).

 44% were self-employed in a private practice.  37% were employed in a private practice owned by nonaudiologists.  15% were employed in a private practice owned by other audiologists.  70% received an annual salary.  30% received an hourly wage.  79% worked in a nonresidential health care facility.  7% worked in an audiology franchise/retail chain.  6% worked in hospitals.  4% worked in schools.  2% worked in colleges/universities.  1% worked in industry.  1% worked in an “other” facility.

Highest Degree*

 39% held a master’s as the highest degree.  55% held an AuD degree.  6% held a PhD degree.  1% held an “other” doctorate.

Primary Function*

 92% were clinical service providers.  4% were administrators, supervisors, or directors.  2% were college/university faculty.  1% were consultants.  1% had an “other” function. 2

ASHA 2012 Audiology Survey: Private Practice Report Region of the Country*

   

Population Setting*

 47% worked in a suburban area.  36% worked in a metropolitan/urban area.  17% worked in a rural area.

35% worked in the South. 23% worked in the Northeast. 22% worked in the Midwest. 19% worked in the West.

* Respondents could select only one response. ** Could select more than one response.

What They Earn: Annual Salaries

Change in Reporting

Owner or Employee

The salaries in this report are median salaries (the one in the middle when salaries are ordered from lowest to highest). The salaries in this section (i.e., annual salaries) are only for respondents who reported that they worked in private practice full-time for 11 to 12 months a year. In most cases, salaries are presented separately for owners and full-time employees (i.e., salaried employees, contractors, consultants, per diems, and temps). The shortened term “employee” will be used throughout this report to refer to the list of five types of nonowners. Salaries are presented only when there are sufficient cases, that is, a minimum of 25 respondents. In the past, survey respondents were instructed to include bonuses and commissions as part of the annual salary. Beginning in 2010, they were requested to report basic annual salaries, bonuses, and commissions as three separate figures. The salaries reported in 2012 may appear to be smaller than in 2008 and earlier years, but keep in mind that bonuses and commissions are now excluded from basic salaries.

The median salary for owners was $84,768 (n = 196). The median for employees was $65,000 (n = 210). 3

ASHA 2012 Audiology Survey: Private Practice Report Private Practice Type

Owners received higher average salaries than did employees (see Table 1). Table 1. Median Annual Salary by Private Practice Type Private Practice Type Self-employed Other audiologists Nonaudiologists

Highest Degree

Owner n $ 83,857 192 n < 25 1 n < 25 3

Employee n $ n < 25 24 65,744 44 63,708 132

The median salary was $1,627 higher for employees with an AuD than for those with a master’s. For owners, the difference was $2,403 (see Table 2). Table 2. Median Annual Salary by Highest Degree Highest Degree Master’s AuD PhD

Years of Experience

Owner n $ 77,597 75 80,000 100 n < 25 17

Employee n $ 63,373 53 65,000 153 n < 25 4

The median number of years of experience was 13 for full-time employees and 26 for owners. The median salary for owners was highest with 21–25 years of experience ($99,786) and for employees with 11–15 years ($66,027; see Table 3). Table 3. Median Annual Salary by Years of Experience Years of Experience 1–5 years 6–10 years 11–15 years 16–20 years 21–25 years 26–30 years 31 or more years

Owner n $ n < 25 70,000 75,008 99,786 90,000 99,716

3 11 28 31 28 34 59

Employee n $ 60,000 37 64,000 55 66,027 37 23 24 n < 25 15 19

4

ASHA 2012 Audiology Survey: Private Practice Report Region of the Country

The highest median salary for owners was in the West ($89,837). For employees, it was in the Northeast ($75,591). The lowest medians were in the Midwest for both employees and owners (see Table 4). Table 4. Median Annual Salary by Region of the Country Owner n $ 89,597 49 77,186 35 80,000 72 89,837 38

Region* Northeast Midwest South West * Northeast:

Midwest: South: West:

Population Setting

Employee n $ 75,591 38 60,000 50 62,000 87 71,938 34

NJ, NY, PA, CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT IL, IN, MI, OH, WI, IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD AL, KY, MS, TN, DE, DC, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC, VA, WV, AR, LA, OK, TX AZ, CO, ID, MT, NV, NM, UT, WY, AK, CA, HI, OR, WA

The highest median salary for owners was in suburban areas; for employees, it was in rural settings (see Table 5). Table 5. Median Annual Salary by Population Setting Population Setting Metropolitan/urban Suburban Rural

Owner n $ 85,938 56 89,147 89 80,000 52

Employee n $ 62,000 82 67,125 94 68,915 30 5


What They Earn: Hourly Wages Owner or Employee

The salaries in this section (i.e., hourly wages) are for respondents who reported that they worked in private practice and worked either full-time or part-time.

Of those who reported receiving an hourly wage, the median number of hours that owners worked per week was 30 (n = 27). The median number of hours worked was 36 (n = 65) for full-time employees, 23 for part-time (n = 68), and 20 for contractors (n = 50). Too few owners reported their hourly wage (n = 23) to report a median for them. However, employees reported a median wage of $35.00 (n = 113).

Private Practice Type

Audiologists employed in private practices owned by other audiologists earned an average of $2.01 per hour more than audiologists employed in practices owned by nonaudiologists (see Table 6). Table 6. Median Hourly Wages by Private Practice Type Private Practice Type Self-employed Owned by other audiologists Owned by nonaudiologists

Owner n $ n < 25 23

Employee n $ n < 25 15

n < 25

0

35.00

34

n < 25

0

32.99

59 6

ASHA 2012 Audiology Survey: Private Practice Report Other Predictors

Several predictor variables (i.e., region of the country, years of experience, population setting, and highest degree) can be presented only for employees because there were fewer than 25 owners who provided this information (see Table 7).

Table 7. Median Hourly Wage for Employees Predictor

$

n

Region Northeast Midwest South West

40.00 30.00 32.89 37.94

25 27 34 26

n < 25 35.00 34.97

12 26 25 11 9 12 18

Years of Experience 1–5 6–10 11–15 16–20 21–25 26–30 31 or more years Population Setting Metropolitan/urban area Suburban area Rural area Highest Degree Master’s AuD PhD

Bundling Charges

n < 25

37.45 35.00 n < 25

38 63 10

35.00 35.00 n < 25

50 61 2

Most (78%) of the private practice audiologists who dispensed hearing aids said that they bundled all charges for services and products. Only 22% said that they charged separately for professional services and devices (n = 656). Owners differed significantly from employees in whether they bundled charges. Specifically, 73% of owners and 82% of employees said that they bundled all charges (p = .006).

7


What They Earn: Commissions and Bonuses

Of the private practice audiologists who responded to the survey, 212 indicated that they had received a commission during the previous 12 months. Their median commission was $15,000. The median for contractors and full- and part-time employees was $15,000 (n = 196), but too few owners (n = 16) earned a commission to report the amount. Commissions were determined in three ways:  41% as a percentage of sale  33% as a percentage of profit  26% as a flat rate

The median percentage of commission on product sales was 10% (n = 131).

A total of 228 private practice audiologists reported receiving bonuses during the previous 12 months. The median amount was $3,000. The average (mean) bonus earned by 50 owners was $37,752, compared with $7,122 earned by 178 contractors and fulland part-time employees (p = .000). 8


What They Say About ASHA

About Service Provision

For years, the first question on the Audiology Survey and other major ASHA surveys has inquired about the kind of job the Association is doing in serving its members. In 2012, the ratings of owners and employees were almost identical (p = .936):  5% gave ratings of excellent.  35% gave ratings of good.  47% gave ratings of fair.  12% gave ratings of poor. Three services were provided by at least 90% of owners and 80% of employees (see Table 8). Table 8. Services Provided Service Auditory training Counseling on communication strategies/realistic expectations Demonstration/fitting/orientation of hearing assistive technology Fitting and dispensing hearing aids Programming and fitting cochlear implants Services to the birth-to-6 – months population Speech reading/lip reading Validation of outcomes using aided and unaided speech understanding measures Validation of treatment outcomes by selfquestionnaires Verification of performance of hearing aids using real ear measures I do not provide any of the above services.

Owner

Employee

p

25.2

13.6

.000

90.0

83.3

.016

91.0

80.0

.000

93.8

88.9

.037

4.1

11.7

.001

37.5

39.7

.572

6.5

1.9

.004

67.4

57.2

.009

47.1

37.3

.013

59.0

53.8

.203

1.4

5.0

.015

n ≥ 649. Shading indicates nonsignificant findings.

9

ASHA 2012 Audiology Survey: Private Practice Report The rate at which owners and employees provided services was significantly different for 8 of the 10 services. Owners were more likely than employees to provide 7 of the 8 services (e.g., 25% of owners provided auditory training compared with 14% of employees who provided this service; see Table 8). About Supervising

Twenty-eight percent of the audiologists supervised full-time support personnel at the time they responded to the survey. The median number supervised by both owners and employees was 2; the mean for both groups was 3 (p = .364). Most of the private practice audiologists had not supervised clinical doctoral students during the past 3 years. For those who did, the median number supervised annually was 2 for both owners (n = 93) and employees (n = 148).

About Serving Multicultural Populations

The audiologists who received this survey used a 5-point scale (from not at all to very) to rate how qualified they were to address cultural and linguistic influences on service delivery and outcomes. Owners varied significantly from employees, with most of the differences coming from ratings of 1 (not at all qualified) or 3, the middle choice. Both owners and employees were equally likely to identify themselves as very qualified (see Figure 1). Figure 1. Cultural Qualifications 1 Not at all qualified

17%

26%

20% 23%

2

26%

3

34% 18% 18%

4

Owner Employee

9% 9%

5 Very qualified 0%

20%

40%

n = 630, χ2(4) = 9.9, p = .042

About Telepractice

Only 4% of the private practice audiologists said that they currently delivered any services via telepractice. 10

ASHA 2012 Audiology Survey: Private Practice Report About Marketing

Most of the private practice audiologists, both owners and employees, used a website to promote their professional services. The least-used strategy was broadcast media. The biggest difference between the two groups was in making presentations: 15% more owners than employees used this method to promote their services (see Table 9). Table 9. Promoting Professional Services Service

Owner

Broadcast media Newsletters Open houses Presentations Print media Social media Website None of the above

29.3 42.4 43.6 48.8 64.3 42.6 74.1 15.5

Employee 22.8 31.7 40.0 33.6 52.6 32.2 68.1 20.6

p .071 .005 .379 .000 .003 .007 .099 .103


About Finding ASHA CEUs

The most common way that both owners and employees learned about courses offered for ASHA CEUs was through e-mail distribution. Owners were more likely than employees to learn about them through direct mail and print advertisements, while employees were more likely than owners to learn from Course Search and the Internet (see Table 10).

Table 10. Finding Courses for ASHA CEUs Method ASHA Community Course Search on ASHA website Direct mail E-mail distribution Flyers at conferences Internet search Print advertisements Recommendations of colleagues

Owner

Employee

p

14.4

13.9

.910

14.1

27.8

.000

43.4 58.4 17.9 19.6 27.9

30.0 51.7 13.3 30.0 15.8

.000 .096 .126 .003 .000

24.1

28.7

.212


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Survey Notes and Methodology Response Rate

The Audiology Survey has been fielded in even-numbered years since 2004 to gather information of interest to the profession. Members, volunteer leaders, and staff rely on data from the survey to better understand the priorities and needs of audiologists.

A stratified random sample was used to select 4,000 ASHAcertified audiologists for this survey from a population of 7,058 audiologists. They were stratified on the basis of type of facility and private practice. The survey was mailed in September 2012. Second and third mailings followed, at approximately 4-week intervals, to individuals who had not responded to earlier mailings. Of the original 4,000 audiologists in the sample, 21 had undeliverable addresses, 2 were deceased, 3 were retired, 5 were no longer employed in the field, and 5 were ineligible for other reasons, leaving 3,964 possible respondents. The actual number of respondents was 2,037, resulting in a 51.4% response rate. Because facilities with fewer audiologists (such as schools) were oversampled and those with many (e.g., hospitals) were undersampled, weighting was used when presenting data to reflect the actual distribution of audiologists in each type of facility within ASHA.

Audiology Survey Reports

Results from the 2012 Audiology Survey are reported in a series of reports:      

Annual Salaries Hourly Wages Clinical Focus Patterns Private Practice Survey Summary Report Survey Methodology, Respondent Demographics, and Glossary 12


Electronic Copy

An electronic copy of this report will be available on the ASHA website at www.asha.org/research/memberdata/AudiologySurvey.htm

Suggested Citation

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2012). 2012 Audiology Survey report: Private practice. Available from www.asha.org.

Supplemental Sources

www.asha.org/practice/faq_business_practices_both.htm www.asha.org/practice/ www.asha.org/aud/Practice-Considerations-for-DispensingAudiologists/ www.asha.org/aud/articles/ www.asha.org/academic/curriculum/aud-pro/pubs.htm www.asha.org/eWeb/OLSDynamicPage.aspx?Webcode=olsdetails &title=Finding+Your+Niche+in+Private+Practice www.sba.gov/ www.bls.gov/bls/blswage.htm

Additional Information

For additional information regarding the 2012 Audiology Survey, please contact Pam Mason, director of ASHA’s Audiology Professional Practices, at 301-296-5790; e-mail: [email protected]. To learn more about how the Association is working on behalf of ASHA-certified audiologists, members may visit ASHA’s website at www.asha.org/aud/.

Thank You

ASHA would like to thank the audiologists who received the 2012 Audiology Survey and completed it. Reports like this one are only possible because people like you participated. If you find this information valuable, please accept the invitation to participate in other ASHA-sponsored surveys and focus groups. You are the experts, and we rely on you to provide data to share with your fellow members. 13

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