As health systems widen the reach of the physician groups they own, the executives running those groups are seeing their pay rise, with incentive pay doing most of the lifting.
Median total cash compensation for presidents and CEOs of health system-owned medical groups rose 7.9% to 9.6% from 2025 to 2026, according to data from compensation consulting firm SullivanCotter shared with Becker’s. Median base salaries rose 3.5% to 4.9% over the same period.
The figures come from SullivanCotter’s “2025-2026 Health Care Management and Executive Compensation Survey Report” and cover 48 physician CEOs and 30 non-physician CEOs at subsidiary medical groups, or physician organizations that operate within a larger health system. The comparison is limited to organizations that participated in both the 2025 and 2026 survey editions.
SullivanCotter said the increases are consistent with a broader pattern across health system leadership, where pay is moving 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 in a statement to Becker’s.
For ASC leaders, the data offers a read on how health systems are valuing the physician groups they own, which are often partners, referral sources or competitors for surgery centers in the same markets.
Incentive pay accounts for most of the growth. Total cash compensation combines base salary with incentive pay, and the spread between the two widened for both groups of CEOs.
For physician CEOs, median total cash compensation of $902,400 ran about $205,000 above the median base salary of $697,400 in 2026. A year earlier, that spread was about $172,000, meaning it grew roughly 19%. For non-physician CEOs, the spread between median total cash compensation and median base salary grew roughly 36%, from about $124,000 to about $170,000.
The timing matters for how the numbers are read. Base salary figures are effective as of Jan. 1, 2026, while incentive data reflects the 2025 performance year, so the bonus growth reflects how medical groups and their leaders performed last year.
Physician CEOs remain the higher earners. Their median total cash compensation was about $172,000 higher than that of non-physician CEOs, who earned a median of $730,400. SullivanCotter said both groups saw similar year-over-year movement.
SullivanCotter noted the data is not a same-incumbent analysis, so year-over-year changes may reflect new hires, promotions or restructuring in addition to raises for leaders who stayed in their roles.
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