Physician compensation stayed essentially flat last year for all medical specialties. Median compensation for primary care physicians rose just 0.86 percent to $135,791 in 1997. Median compensation for all other specialists dropped 0.48 percent to $220,476.

Family physicians without obstetrics saw the largest increase among all of primary care. Their median compensation rose 2.69 percent to $136,002.

Midlevel providers also saw a relatively large increase for the year, jumping 4.41 percent to $57,907.

Source: Medical Group Management Association, Cejka & Company. Physician Compensation and Production Survey; 1998.