When health systems decide who should lead the medical groups they own, choosing a physician comes with a clear price tag, and new data shows that premium is holding steady.
Physician presidents and CEOs of health system-owned medical groups earned a median of $902,400 in total cash compensation in 2026, according to data from compensation consulting firm SullivanCotter shared with Becker’s. Their non-physician counterparts earned a median of $730,400, a difference of about $172,000, or 24%.
The gap is nearly identical on base salary. Physician CEOs earned a median base of $697,400, compared with $560,600 for non-physician CEOs, a difference of about $137,000, also 24%.
The data, drawn from SullivanCotter’s “2025-2026 Health Care Management and Executive Compensation Survey Report,” covers 48 physician CEOs and 30 non-physician CEOs at subsidiary medical groups, or physician organizations operating within a larger health system. It includes only organizations that participated in both the 2025 and 2026 survey editions.
“As expected, physician leaders are compensated at a higher level, although physician and non-physician CEOs experienced similar year-over-year movement,” SullivanCotter said in a statement to Becker’s.
The movement was similar, but not identical. Physician CEOs saw a larger bump in base salary, with the median rising 4.9% compared with 3.5% for non-physician CEOs. Non-physician CEOs saw faster growth in total cash compensation, which rose 9.6% at the median compared with 7.9% for physician CEOs.
The difference comes from incentive pay. For non-physician CEOs, the spread between median total cash compensation and median base salary grew roughly 36% year over year, from about $124,000 to about $170,000. For physician CEOs, that spread grew roughly 19%, from about $172,000 to about $205,000. Incentive data reflects the 2025 performance year, while base salaries are effective as of Jan. 1, 2026.
As a result, the physician premium in total cash compensation was essentially flat in dollar terms, at about $170,000 in 2025 and about $172,000 in 2026, and narrowed slightly as a percentage, from about 26% to 24%.
Average figures tell a similar story. Mean total cash compensation was $916,300 for physician CEOs and $763,600 for non-physician CEOs, with year-over-year increases of 9.4% and 9%, respectively.
SullivanCotter said pay for medical group CEOs is following a broader pattern across health system leadership, where compensation is rising fastest for roles tied to clinical integration, physician alignment and growth.
“Medical groups are central to each of these, and many organizations continue to expand the scope and complexity of their physician enterprises,” the firm said.
SullivanCotter noted the data is not a same-incumbent analysis, so year-over-year changes may reflect new hires, promotions or restructuring.
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