TMPG KAISER CONTRACT

[Namd]

Hello all.

I am in process of interviewing with TPMG. Myself and my Spouse are both medicine sub specialist but I graduated few years before my spouse and am already board certified and more experienced.
But they are offering same contract to both.
I feel I should be getting paid somewhat more.

Did anyone negotiate with TPMG for salary?
If there are any TPMG docs out there would love to know how they like working there?

 

Can you negotiate your contract?

Do you get a signing bonus??

[Namd]

Thank you all in anticipation

[SValleyMD]

I'm in the cardiology world and i haven't personally seen or heard of different contracts based on "experience" when talking about corporate med.

It likely exists to a certain extent if you're talking a significant skill set (TAVR) or if their trying quietly to skirt the stark laws and grab market share.

But seems far more common to have the sceanario that you're describing

If anything, the less experience/younger you are, the more desirable you are in the eyes of corporate med, IMO. Easier to mold the young and dumb.

[Namd]

If you work for kaiser could you tell your experience of working there

[q-school]

no experience with kaiser, so not commenting on them directly.

we sometimes offer more pay for experience.  4 years would b enough.  it would help if you are able to demonstrate that you are the highest volume producer and the highest patient satisfaction scores at your old place.  it depends on how the pay is structured at the new place.  if just salary it's one thing.   if there is a request for productivity incentive that could be one thing.  if it is just two years lower pay and what the gap is between experienced pay and new recruit pay.  sometimes easier to negotiate for vacation than $ with the larger organizations.

it depends far more on need than than on experience.  also on profitability of the subspecialty and anticipated call volumes and difficulty of recruiting.

remember, for the most part, you get what you negotiate, not what you deserve.

it would be unlikely imo that kaiser hiring area doesn't have a range of salary that they would bring you in it, so you probably can negotiate a little bit.  at least a larger signing bonus.  really it depends on how much they want you.   if both are in same specialty, that bring challenges.  vacations typically need to be tied.  voting privileges if any are a potential area of concern.  discipline and possible departures are a consideration.  depends on how large the group you are joining is.

good luck

[Namd]

Does kaiser offer signing bonus?

The recruiter did not mention anything about it and even the compensation model they sent had nothing about it

[RJ]

I worked for TPMG for 2 years. Salaries are decided once per year at chief of chiefs meetings in Oakland. You have no say and no negotiating power. There is no seniority either. Ten year experienced doctor and new graduate are hired with same salary. Great for younger guy, not so good for older doc.

If you are in in-demand specialist, I guess you could try to negotiate for signing bonus. Usually, it is like $20-$25K.

Another problem with TMPG is its a corporation, not a partnership, so you are a perpetual W2 employee. SCPMG is a partnership and you get K1s once you make partner.

Personally, I can't imagine going back to work for TPMG (IMHO of course).

[RJ]

Oh and no matter what happens DO NOT TAKE KAISER HOME LOAN UNTIL YOU MAKE PARTNER. They have attractive terms and I can see how easy it is for family to take advantage of it especially when moving to a new area. Unfortunately, if things do not work out at TPMG, the loan becomes immediately due. I have seen a few sad instances like this.

[Craigy]

In my experience with physician contracts, large hospitals/health systems frequently pay the same base salary to the same specialists with the same hours.  Some will have a graduated system where you make less in your first/second year and then hit full salary in the second/third year, and for an experienced physician they may offer to skip to the full salary.

That's not to say you cant try to negotiate.  I would.

[Namd]

Thank You. Any input from physician who worked with TPMG would really help me make the right decision.

[Namd]

Bump

[StarTrekDoc]

Depends on the PIC and your section chief on how things are structured.  It can vary and the best is to ask colleagues in the cardiology there already if you know them.  With four years, depending on the experience, you may be able to negotiate shorter time to buy-in shareholder.  Also with both of you, there will be recurring savings on the excellent health care insurance that you get and probably can get a bonus negotiated with the chief of service on that front alone.

Primary care in the CV had a R+R incentive on top of the physician loan program that's available -- and of course all these are due upon separation, including shareholder if you made that by then.

There is also year end bonuses if profitable, again determined by the service chiefs on how distribution is had, so it varies quite a lot between services.  My wife in peds and brother in anesthesia had different amounts in the same year.

[wally world]

Hi Namd-

TPMG physician here. I've been working for the group for a bit shy of 10 years. I don't believe there is a whole lot of wiggle room on starting salaries though the whole salary thing has been a bit of a black box to me during my tenure here (raises and bonuses are awarded in a seemingly mystical fashion as well). If you are in a high demand field (or going to a geographical area where filling positions is proving to be a challenge... maybe the Central Valley for example) you may be able to negotiate something special. As StarTrekDoc points out above, it is really dependent on your department chief and the PIC (Physician In Charge of the medical center, for the non-KP folk). I am aware of people getting sign-on bonuses in certain situations though not with any consistency.

Regarding how I feel about working for TPMG, I'll paste what I wrote in an earlier Kaiser thread here:

"KP has been a reasonably fine place for me to practice. Most days I find things very reasonable. I have more time to spend with my family than I did when I was in my previous private practice. Of course on some days, it doesn’t feel reasonable at all… Remember this is a huge organization with variation from medical center to medical center and department to department. Some department chiefs are fantastic and some are not. Some departments foster a sense of collaboration and some do not. I know from my regional work that these variations can be enormous within the same specialty."

Luck would have it that today was one of the more unreasonable feeling days when aggravation abounded.  :x

However, I still was home in time to eat dinner with my family & get caught up on the kids' daytime activities/adventures... and with enough energy to revisit some of my favorite posts on http://thehappyphilosopher.com/ before bedtime (which always makes me feel better). So maybe it was a reasonable day after all... hmm.

Good luck with the job decision making process.

WW

[EJ at Dads Dollars and Debts]

I think your biggest chance is to get a sign on bonus which is actually a loan that is forgiven after 7 years of service. If you leave earlier you have to pay some or all of it back.

[Miss Bonnie MD]

All KPs are different. Let's just say I interviewed at one and they offered a generous signing bonus  and salary was based on experience and tiered. Derm.