Any Kaiser (TPMG) docs here?

[AlexxT]

Actually, specialists at SCPMG seemed to be paid about 15-20% higher that TPMG, at least for the specialties that I was familiar with at the time.  I think primary care was paid less and specialists more, compared to TPMG.   Plus they had that 1/2 day off a week and sabbaticals. At least, that was the case some years ago. My information may be outdated.

kaiserdoc wrote:

There’s not much differentiation in salary or workload between the guy who joined last week and the guy who has been there for 30 years. That’s one of the benefits IMO.

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It seems like a benefit to a new guy like you.  But when you're 50 or 55, and want to stop taking call, in most departments, you can't.  You'll take call until you quit or retire.  You may want to focus your practice, but you generally won't be allowed to.  That's what leads to a lot of dissatisfaction.  Everything that seems like a benefit now will be torture later.  Unless of course you have joined administration and get to abuse the system.

[RJ]

I am in a surgical subspeciality. I guarantee you (at least for my speciality) TPMG docs make at least 25 percent more.

[fatlittlepig]

RJ wrote:

I didn’t say anything about difference in benefits. I’d take 36 hour work week over better benefits any day.

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i don't think many people would agree with you on that

[Tri2Fly]

Thank you for the wealth of information!  This is all very useful.

Can anyone tell me more about how salary increases work after the 5 year mark?  When hired, they provide a 5 year projected salary, but then I was told that after that point only cost of living increases occur.  How much on average are those cost of living adjustments?

[RJ]

I venture a guess that you haven't been with TPMG that long? For long term sanity and survival in that system having a few hours off during work week can be invaluable.

[fatlittlepig]

RJ wrote:

I venture a guess that you haven’t been with TPMG that long? For long term sanity and survival in that system having a few hours off during work week can be invaluable.

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13 years. However like other people have stated. TPMG is so large, different med centers, different specialities, different departments. Everything is different, YMMV

[fatlittlepig]

Tri2Fly wrote:

Thank you for the wealth of information!  This is all very useful.

Can anyone tell me more about how salary increases work after the 5 year mark?  When hired, they provide a 5 year projected salary, but then I was told that after that point only cost of living increases occur.  How much on average are those cost of living adjustments?

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from my experience raises each year are around 2-3%. Don't get me wrong, working for TPMG for me has been a very lucrative proposition. Twice yearly bonuses, opportunities to work extra, permanente contribution plan, kaiser buy in share continuing to raise in value, deferral comp plan, I can go on and on.

[Gasemup]

At NWKP (OR/WA) they can hire you at FTE 0.9 (36hrs/wk) or 1.0 (40 hrs/wk). Their 401k "match" is slightly different (better). If you make over 270k, all the extra 401k "match" money and some of the extra pension money is paid yearly. Anything you're still owed on the pension is paid when you retire, but they dont throw anything in the pot to help with taxes. No DCP plan that Ive heard of. Dont know how their salaries compare to other regions but I believe are closer to TPMG as oppose to SCPMG.

[RJ]

I can respect that. In my old department, it was about just survival and trying not to burn out. I am glad you are doing well.

[potatoducks]

Mistake post.

[RJ]

Yeah, people do find ways to stop taking call. We had a women partner in her early 50s who developed "mental breakdown" and chief took her off call rotation. TPMG departments are like little kingdoms: if you are close to king, things can happen for you.

[fatlittlepig]

I spoke with someone who is involved with the deferred comp program, less than 10% of people participate which is interesting. Personally it has saved me just last year >>50k in taxes

[kaiserdoc]

Approximately what percentage of your income do you defer?

[wally world]

Tri2Fly wrote:

Thank you for the wealth of information!  This is all very useful.

Can anyone tell me more about how salary increases work after the 5 year mark?  When hired, they provide a 5 year projected salary, but then I was told that after that point only cost of living increases occur.  How much on average are those cost of living adjustments?

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I don't know if the salary increases are the same for all physicians or if it varies by medical center or specialty. I'd imagine that there is a relatively narrow band for this sort of thing. The department chiefs have some latitude in spreading out the money for salary increases though I'm not sure how much wiggle room is allowed. In TPMG, raises generally take effect on July 1 (so are reflected on the July 21st paycheck). Looking back on my own raises, they have averaged around 2.5% over the past 4-5 years (ranging from 1.5 to 4ish). They also gave a $5k salary increase to all physicians that took place in January of this year (maybe to try and balance out the fact that both the December and March bonuses were lower than in years past).

 

And for sake of completeness: I did forget to mention in my earlier post about TPMG's Plan 2, that they will make a special payment in September to physicians that are earning more than the compensation limit. They make this payment (which is taxable) of 10% of your salary over the compensation limit up to a maximum amount of $15,360 in 2017 (it was up to a maximum of $14,425 last year). It's a really nice perk & feels like a reimbursement for the after-tax contributions made earlier in the year (it's not equal to the money you put in due to taxes on the make-up payment, but still very nice). Of course, then property taxes are due :-(

 

[AlexxT]

fatlittlepig wrote:

Personally it has saved me just last year >>50k in taxes

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It didn't save you any money on taxes.  You just deferred your taxes until later.  It might end up saving you some money, but it will almost definitely save you less than the 50k you deferred, as you will have to pay some taxes later even if you have no other income when you withdraw the money.   It's also possible that you will end up paying more taxes than you would have.  Time will tell.