Survey: Pay increases continue for healthcare executives

Editor's Note

Base salaries for healthcare executives rose by a median of 4.6%, according to the 2024 Health Care Management and Executive Compensation Survey from consulting firm SullivanCotter.

Published October 17 on Business Wire, the survey includes data from nearly 3,300 organizations and 45,000 leaders. According to an October 17 press release, this year’s rise is consistent with a 4.4% rise in last year’s survey. Other key findings include:

• Executives at system-level organizations saw higher salary growth (5.2%) compared to subsidiary hospitals (3.5%), driven by growing operational complexities and a limited talent pool.
• Key roles experiencing salary increases above 5.0% were linked to business strategy, information technology, care delivery, and legal/regulatory functions, including positions such as Chief Executive Officer, Chief Information Security Executive, and Top Compliance Executive.
• Rising incentive awards for 2023 performance are reflected in an 8.3% increase in median total cash compensation (TCC)—combining base salary and incentives— for system-level executives in 2024. Subsidiary hospital executives saw similar trends.
• Increased scrutiny over executive compensation has driven changes in incentive plan structures, with greater emphasis on financial sustainability and system-wide performance metrics.
• Ongoing challenges include high labor costs, inflation, talent scarcity, and cybersecurity risks.