Objective: To analyze the employee compensation status of secondary public hospitals of Pudong New Area in Shanghai in order to provide information for compensation reform of public hospitals in Shanghai and as well as in China. Methods: We surveyed all 15 secondary public hospitals of Pudong New Area in Shanghai to collect hospital annual compensation data for their employees and to investigate their suggestions for compensation reform in public hospitals in China. We also collected related annual compensation data of employees in Shanghai and of physicians in the USA from Shanghai statistical Yearbook 2013 and from Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. Results: The average annual compensation for the employees in secondary public hospitals of Pudong New Area in Shanghai in 2012 was 2.65 times of that for overall employees in Shanghai. The physician’s compensation in these public hospitals was relatively lower than that in the USA. Conclusion: The physicians’ compensation in the secondary public hospitals of Pudong New Area in Shanghai should be increased rationally and new compensation reform in public hospitals in Shanghai should be carefully designed.
Compensation is the reward that one receives in exchange for the work or services performed [
In public hospitals, compensation refers to the pre-tax salary and all the benefits the employees get from the hospitals. Employees’ compensation is important to achieve long-term objectives of hospital development, and it reflects social status and social value of employees working in hospitals [
There are many discussions on compensation reform of public hospitals in order to construct a rational and incentive compensation system for employees working in public hospitals in China [
This study was mainly to analyze the employees’ compensation status in the secondary public hospitals of Pudong New Area in Shanghai in order to provide information for compensation reform of public hospitals in Shanghai as well as in China.
All 15 secondary public hospitals (6 secondary general hospitals and 9 secondary specialized hospitals) of Pudong New Area in Shanghai were selected as surveyed hospitals. We selected these hospitals because they could basically represent the secondary public hospitals in Shanghai, covering public hospitals in urban, suburban, and rural areas.
In the study, we collected all kinds of employees’ compensation data in 2012 from surveyed hospitals, including annual basic salary, subsides and bonus of all types of employees at all levels. We also to investigate hospitals for their suggestions for compensation reform in public hospitals in China. The related annual compensation data of employees in Shanghai and of physicians in the USA in 2012 from Shanghai statistical Yearbook 2013 and from Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor were collected [
The study found that the average annual employees’ compensation in secondary public hospitals of Pudong New Area in 2012 was 149.20 thousand yuans (145.00 thousand yuans in general hospitals and 164.50 thousand yuans in specialty hospitals).
The study also showed that physicians in secondary public hospitals of Pudong New Area in 2012 had the highest average annual compensation, while nurses, medical technicians, other technicians, administrators, and supportive staff had 79%, 85%, 84%, 83%, and 67% of physicians’ annual compensation on average (
Compared to other employees in Shanghai, the average annual employees’ compensation in secondary public hospital of Pudong New Area in 2012 was 2.65 times of the employees in Shanghai overall (56.30 thousand yuans), and was 1.33 times of health professionals (112.07 thousand yuans) (
Types of employees | General hospitals (6 hospitals) | Specialized hospitals (9 hospitals) | Total (15 hospitals) | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No of employees | Ratios | No of employees | Ratios | No of employees | Ratios | |
Physicians | 2090 | 1.00 | 543 | 1.00 | 2633 | 1.00 |
Nurses | 2660 | 0.78 | 805 | 0.82 | 3465 | 0.79 |
Medical technicians | 548 | 0.87 | 121 | 0.77 | 669 | 0.85 |
Other technicians | 238 | 0.86 | 67 | 0.74 | 305 | 0.84 |
Administrators | 297 | 0.80 | 74 | 0.93 | 371 | 0.83 |
Supportive staff | 360 | 0.68 | 99 | 0.65 | 459 | 0.67 |
Total | 6193 | 1709 | 0.86 | 7902 |
Types of employees | All | Health professionals | Education professionals | IT professionals | Financial professionals |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Physicians | 3.07 | 1.54 | 1.92 | 1.23 | 0.89 |
Nurses | 2.43 | 1.22 | 1.52 | 0.97 | 0.71 |
Medical technicians | 2.61 | 1.31 | 1.63 | 1.04 | 0.76 |
Other technicians | 2.56 | 1.29 | 1.60 | 1.02 | 0.75 |
Administrators | 2.55 | 1.28 | 1.59 | 1.02 | 0.74 |
Supportive staff | 2.06 | 1.03 | 1.29 | 0.82 | 0.60 |
Total | 2.65 | 1.33 | 1.66 | 1.06 | 0.77 |
Compared to other professionals in Shanghai, the average annual compensation for physicians in secondary public hospital of Pudong New Area in 2012 was greater than that for health professionals overall (1.54 times), for education professionals (1.92 times), for IT professionals (1.23) and for financial professionals (0.89) (
The study found that the average annual compensation for physicians in surveyed hospitals in 2012 was 3.07 times of that of employees in Shanghai overall, while that ratio was 4.15 in the United State. The physicians earned more than the health professional overall, education professionals and IT professionals, but less than financial professionals in Shanghai in 2012. However, the physicians earned the most among the health professional overall, education professionals, IT professionals and financial professionals in the United States in 2012 (
Most of the surveyed hospitals believed that there were two fundamental principals in constructing new compensation systems for employees in public hospitals in Shanghai: to facilitate efficiency of medical care (75.00%) and to be fair to employees (75.00%). The surveyed hospitals suggested that about 70% of employees’ compensation should be based on performance, which should be further divided into three elements: workload (40.97%), service quality (15.00%) and working position (11.33%). The compensation for employees in public hospitals should be increased at the rate that were in concord with overall increase rate of employees’ compensation in Shanghai.
Medical industry is highly risky and technology intensive. So education and training for health professionals are costly, in terms of costs in time, energy and money. Therefore, medical professionals, especially physicians, deserve high compensation. Our study revealed that the average annual compensation for employees in secondary public hospitals of Pudong New Area was higher than that of employees in Shanghai overall (2.65 times) and was higher than that of overall health professionals, education professionals, and IT professionals (1.06 - 1.66 times). Especially, the physicians had the highest average annual compensation among different types of employees in secondary public hospitals of Pudong New Area reflected their social value in medical care to some degree. However, the average annual compensation for all types of employees in secondary public hospitals of Pudong New Area was lower than that of financial professionals. This may be because Shanghai is a financial center of China and economic development is so important in Shanghai. Shanghai needs to offer higher compensation in financial industry to attract skillful professionals.
Types of professionals | Shanghai† | The United States‡ | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Average annual compensation (1000 yuans) | Ratios | Average annual compensation (1000 yuans) | Ratios | |
All employees | 56.30 | 1.00 | 288.48 | 1.00 |
Health professionals | 112.07 | 1.99 | 463.30 | 1.61 |
Education professionals | 90.01 | 1.60 | 322.62 | 1.12 |
IT professionals | 141.00 | 2.50 | 504.13 | 1.75 |
Financial professionals | 193.52 | 3.44 | 454.74 | 1.58 |
Physicians# | 172.84 | 3.07 | 1197.38 | 4.15 |
†Data from Shanghai Statistical Yearbook 2013; ‡Data from Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor; the exchange rate of RMB against USD is consumed as 6.30; #Data from surveyed hospitals.
According to Aon Hewitt’s employee engagement study, compensation is an important element in maintaining Chinese employees’ engagement [
In the study, most surveyed hospitals suggested that efficiency and fairness were two fundamental principals in compensation reform in public hospitals of Shanghai. If the compensations for employees are performance- based, efficiency of medical care can be facilitated and fairness can be achieved. The position of employees in a hospital can also be used to appreciate the contribution of employees to its organization. We think the new compensation reform in public hospitals in Shanghai should be carefully designed to increase employees’ satisfaction and to have good incentive for better medical care.
We would like to thank Ms. Pu Haihong, who is the head of the health reform department in Shanghai development and reform commission for her help and support to our program. We also appreciate the assistance from the officers of health and family planning commission in Pudong New Area.
Wei Fang,Jianjun Gu,Di Xue, (2015) Compensation Analysis on Secondary Public Hospitals of Pudong New Area in Shanghai. Open Journal of Social Sciences,03,23-27. doi: 10.4236/jss.2015.311004