AAMA 2015 Medical Assisting Compensation and Benefits Report

M
edical assistants across the country
enthusiastically participated in the
2015 Compensation and Benefits Survey
conducted by the American Association
of Medical Assistants. More than 8,100
medical assistants completed the survey,
an increase of 2,000 from last year.
The AAMA e-mailed an electronic questionnaire to more than 63,000
medical assistants and medical assisting
educators. Most of the participants had
earned the CMA (AAMA) credential
(91 percent) and were members of the
AAMA (94 percent).
The large number of participants
ensures that the results have a high degree
of statistical significance.
Statistical significance and
terms used
The overall margin of error for the 8,112
responses is ±1.1 percent at the 95 percent confidence level. Margin of error
describes the statistical significance of
the sample as an estimate of the population. The margin of error should be
treated only as an approximation, since
margin of error calculations are based
on pure random selection, which is not
achievable in traditional survey settings
where response is voluntary. The ±1.1
percent margin of error applies to overall
statistics based on the total respondents
to the survey; smaller breakout groups
presented throughout the report have
higher margins of error. Judgments based
on statistics with very low sample sizes
should be made with caution. Statistics
are rounded to the nearest whole number.
2015 Medical Assisting
Compensation and
Benefits Report
Compensation
Both hourly pay rates and annual gross
salaries were collected on the survey.
Approximately 97 percent of full-time medical assistants are paid hourly, while roughly
3 percent are paid by annual salary.
By CMA (AAMA) certification
Average hourly wages and salary vary according to years of experience for all medical
assistants surveyed. Full-time medical assistants holding a current CMA (AAMA) certification earn an average of $15.77 per hour
or an average annual salary of $30,186.
Employers often are not only paying
higher wages for the CMA (AAMA), they
are also increasingly demanding that their
medical assistants have a CMA (AAMA)
credential.1 Every day the AAMA responds
to more than 100 employer requests for
CMA (AAMA) certification verification—
for both current and potential employees.2
Such demand is often due to the pressures
of potential malpractice suits and the certification mandates placed on employers by
managed care organizations.3
AAMA 2015 Medical Assisting Compensation and Benefits Report Additionally, on August 23, 2012, the
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
(CMS) ruled that only “credentialed medical
assistants”—including CMAs (AAMA)—as
well as licensed health care professionals would
be allowed to enter medication, laboratory, and
radiology/diagnostic imaging orders into the
computerized provider order entry system for
meaningful use purposes for the Medicare and
Medicaid Electronic Health Record Incentive
Programs.4,5 The CMA (AAMA) must have
current status to use the credential, including
for qualifying to enter orders for the Medicare
and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs.
By geographic region
The average annual earnings and hourly wages
were computed for geographic regions of the
United States (Figure 1). The Pacific region
showed the highest earnings for full-time
current CMAs (AAMA), with averages of
$34,652 annually and $18.22 hourly. Across
the country, the West North Central region
turned in the second highest annual earnings
($31,952), and hourly wages ($16.85). The
full comparison is shown in Table 1.
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Figure 1.
CM
A
av (AA
era M
A)
H ge
Sa ourl ea ov
e
lar y:
y: $15 rnin ral
l
$3 .77 g
s
0,1
Regions based on the United States Census divisions
86
Pacific
(Includes Alaska
and Hawaii)
New
England
West North
Central
By work setting
Mountain
M
ountaaiin
South
East South
Central
West South
Central
Table 1.
Geographic region
Region
The overwhelming majority of medical assistants
surveyed work in physicians’ offices. Almost 95
percent of respondents are employed in that setting,
with roughly 1.5 percent in ambulatory surgery
and another 2.3 percent in “other.” The breakdown
of wages and earnings by work setting is shown in
Table 2. Figures for inpatient hospital care, home
health settings, and other environments are not
listed due to insufficient response numbers.
Average full-time CMA (AAMA) pay by years of experience
Overall
0–2 years
3–5 years
6–9 years
10–15 years
16 years +
$16.43
31 ,796
$14.73
28,149
$15.96
30,642
$17.30
33,645
15.93
31 ,418
14.01
26,875
14.82
28,731
16.27
31 ,369
17.82
35,460
19.30
39,655
East North Central
15.12
28,565
13.60
25,453
14.35
26, 741
15.14
28,890
16.33
31 , 254
17.87
33,897
West North Central
16.85
31, 952
14.79
27, 920
15.86
29,890
16.74
31, 346
18.16
33, 978
19.46
37, 548
South Atlantic
14.89
28,965
13.03
24,492
14.13
27, 266
15.21
29, 723
16.24
32 ,058
17.38
34,451
East South Central
14.35
27, 758
12.53
24,221
14.09
26, 737
14.57
26 , 818
14.58
28, 587
16.93
34,631
West South Central
14.71
28, 680
12.39
24 ,196
13.85
26, 214
*
*
15.71
30 , 571
16.31
32,389
Mountain
15.70
29,539
13.63
24,377
14.97
27,451
16.09
29,929
16.46
31,500
18.31
36,328
Pacific
18.22
34,652
16.73
31 ,779
18.03
33,415
17.48
33,161
19.95
38,160
21.47
41,982
Northeast
New England
Middle Atlantic
$17.08
33,071
$19.67
38,944
Midwest
South
West
* Insufficient response
AAMA 2015 Medical Assisting Compensation and Benefits Report 2 of 5
By practice specialty
By number of specialties
Sixty-four percent of medical assistants surveyed work in a primary
care office or practice. Another 30 percent work in practices with
other medical or surgical specialties. The income figures for practice
specialty are shown in Table 3.
Combining both full- and part-time medical assistant respondents,
54 percent work in a single specialty practice, while 43 percent work
in a multispecialty setting. The income figures for full-time current CMAs (AAMA) by number of specialties are listed in Table 4.
Table 2.
Average full-time CMA (AAMA) pay by years of experience
Work setting
Work setting
Overall
0–2 years
$16.36
32,652
$14.55
28,976
Inpatient hospital care
16.20
30,514
15.57
29,682
Physician’s office or clinic
15.76
30,116
14.10
26,552
Other
16.18
32,179
13.59
25,780
Ambulatory surgery
3–5 years
6–9 years
10–15 years
16 years +
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
15.02
28,360
15.91
30,428
17.03
32,845
18.41
35,785
15.75
28,458
*
31 ,727
16.98
34,071
19.70
41,729
$16.13
31 ,295
*
*
$18.85
40,808
* Insufficient response
Average full-time
full-time CMA
CMA (AAMA)
(AAMA)pay
payby
byyears
yearsofofexperience
experience
Table 4.
3. Practice
Practice
specialty
specialty
Practice specialty
Overall
0–2 years
3–5 years
6–9 years
$15.61
.
29,653
,
$14.03
26,393
$14.89
28,094
$15.81
29,990
$17.01
32,491
$18.28
35,072
All other medical and
surgical specialties
16.25
31 ,464
14.55
27,639
15.57
29, 582
16.16
31,396
17.34
33,894
18.68
37,091
Other
15.82
30,475
14.14
26,731
15.04
28,221
16.02
31,170
17.38
33,897
18.47
36,410
Primary care
10–15 years
16 years +
* Insufficient response
Table 4.
Average full-time CMA (AAMA) pay by years of experience
Number of specialties
Number of specialties
Overall
0–2 years
3–5 years
6–9 years
10–15 years
16 years +
$15.65
30,015
$13.88
26,028
$14.85
28,007
$15.73
30,158
$16.90
32,816
$18.40
36,084
Multiple specialties
15.92
30,374
14.41
27,268
15.30
29,013
16.15
30,825
17.17
32,864
18.50
35,811
Other
15.69
30,573
13.28
26,338
15.49
30,900
17.49
34,211
18.00
35,879
Single specialty
15.30
27,532
* Insufficient response
AAMA 2015 Medical Assisting Compensation and Benefits Report 3 of 5
Ed
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Employment benefits
Roughly 94 percent of all full-time medical
assistants receive some form of benefits package
from their employer.
Insurance
More than 76 percent of full-time medical assistants
receive dental coverage. Another 75 percent receive
major medical coverage, while 67 percent receive
vision coverage, just more than 59 percent receive
disability coverage, and more than 24 percent
receive professional liability coverage. The full
range of benefits for full-time medical assistants
is shown in Figure 3.
ne
Figure 2.
Benefits received by full-time medical assistants
6%
Do not receive
benefits
Receive benefits
94%
Number of responses = 5,833
Results rounded to the nearest whole number
AAMA membership and conference
When asked if employers offer to help pay for
various AAMA expenses, more than 17 percent
of full-time medical assistants who are AAMA
members responded that their employers pay
their membership dues in full (Figure 4). In
addition, more than 10 percent have their annual
conference registration fees paid for in full, and
nearly 6 percent have travel and lodging paid by
their employers.
For more information on CMA (AAMA)
areas of knowledge, see the Certification/
Recertification Examination Content Outline
on the website. ✦
References
1. Balasa DA. Best practices for practices: protect your
office by employing CMAs (AAMA). CMA Today.
2010;43(3):7-8. http://www.aama-ntl.org/cma-today
/archives/article?id=63b1cf4a-4840-6a90-a81c
-ff00003b2c18. Published May 2010. Updated March
2015. Accessed September 22, 2015.
2. What is a CMA (AAMA)? American Association of
Medical Assistants. http://www.aama-ntl.org/medical
-assisting/what-is-a-cma. Accessed September 22, 2015.
3. Balasa DA. Why more employers are hiring CMAs
(AAMA). CMA Today. 2013;46(5):6-7. http://www
.aama-ntl.org/cma-today/archives/article?id=b286d24a
-4840-6a90-a81c-ff00003b2c18. Published January 2007.
Updated September 2013. Accessed September 22, 2015.
4. Balasa DA. How medical assistants can meet the CMS
meaningful use requirements. CMA Today. 2014;47(6):6-7.
http://www.aama-ntl.org/cma-today/archives
/article?id=0543d54a-4840-6a90-a81c-ff00003b2c18.
Published November 2014. Accessed September 22, 2015.
5. Balasa DA. EHR Incentive Programs: AAMA comments on the CMS Stage 3 proposed rule. CMA Today.
2015;48(5):5. http://www.aama-ntl.org/cma-today
/archives/article?id=b496d64a-4840-6a90-a81c
-ff00003b2c18. Published September 2015. Accessed
September 22, 2015.
Figure 3.
Insurance benefits received by full-time medical assistants
84%
Paid vacation
76%
Dental
75%
Major medical
67%
Vision
Sick leave
63%
59%
Disability
48%
Accidental death
43%
Discount prescription
41%
Basic hospitalization
Professional liability
Other
None
24%
7%
Number of responses = 5,833
20%
Certification/recertification
Resultsexamination
rounded to the
nearest whole number
fees
5%
6%
AAMA membership
dues
Dues assistance received by full-time
medical assistants
Figure 4.
Certification/recertification
examination fees
AAMA membership dues
20%
17%
14%
17%
14%
AAMA Conference
registration fees
4%
AAMA Conference travel
and lodging expenses
4%
2%
17%
2%
Continuing
education fees
5%
Continuing
education fees
17%
10%
6%
AAMA Conference
registration fees
4%
AAMA Conference travel
and lodging expenses
6%
Number of responses = 5,507
4%
Results rounded to the nearest whole number
AAMA 2015 Medical Assisting Compensation and Benefits Report 10%
Full payment
Partial payment
Full payment
Partial payment
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!
N
early 88 percent of medical assisting
educators surveyed work full time,
with the other 12 percent teaching part
time. The majority (83 percent) of fulltime educators receive their compensation
in the form of an annual salary, while
around 17 percent are paid hourly.
Compensation
On average, full-time medical assisting
educators reported earning an annual
gross salary of $51,409, with over 19
percent reporting that they earn at least
$65,000 annually, and more than 9 percent
reporting over $75,000 in annual earnings.
The breakdown of educators’ salaries by
years of experience is shown in Table 5.
2015 Medical
Assisting Educator
Compensation and
Benefits Report
Figure 5.
Insurance benefits received by full-time educators
Employment benefits
Insurance
More than 81 percent of full-time educators receive major medical coverage and 80
percent receive dental insurance. Discount
prescription coverage, accidental death,
and vision were well over 50 percent rates.
Basic hospitalization was just below 50
percent. Rates of coverage for full-time
educators are listed in Figure 5.
AAMA membership and conference
When asked if employers offer to help
pay for various AAMA expenses, 47 percent of full-time educators reported full
payment of membership dues, with the
same number reporting full payment of
conference registration fees. Forty-two
percent reported full payment of travel
and lodging for conference (Figure 6).
Table 5.
Average full-time
educator pay by years
of experience
Overall
$51,409
0-2
51,912
3-5
45,949
6-9
47,472
10-15
55,100
16+
52,623
Major medical
81%
Dental
80%
Sick leave
80%
78%
Paid vacation
Vision
69%
63%
Disability
58%
Accidental death
54%
Discount prescription
50%
Basic hospitalization
Professional liability
Other
None
22%
6%
Number of responses =216
20%
Certification/recertification
Results rounded to the nearest whole number
examination fees
5%
4%
AAMA membership dues
Figure 6.
Dues assistance received by full-time medical assistants
AAMA
membership dues
AAMA Conference
registration fees
Continuing
education fees
17%
47%Continuing
education fees
2%
14%
AAMA Conference
47%
registration
fees
4%
AAMA Conference travel
and42%
lodging expenses
4%
10%
11%
AAMA Conference travel
and lodging expenses
Certification/recertification
examination fees
17%
2%
6%
12%
41%
5%
38%
27%
AAMA 2015 Medical Assisting Compensation and Benefits Report Full payment
Partial payment
Number of responses = 209
Results rounded to the nearest
whole number
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Full payment
Partial payment