An academic compensation plan for an orthopaedic department.

The academic orthopaedic department has the primary goal of providing clinical services, educating orthopaedic surgeons, providing advancements through research and technology development, and creating and maintaining the administrative infrastructure that monitors and enables the department's overall mission. Simultaneous reductions in revenues and increases in the cost to practice medicine pose the greatest challenge to maintaining the academic orthopaedic department. Fundamental differences exist between the private practice and academic orthopaedic surgeon. Most importantly, while their value systems may differ, appropriate incentives (tangible and intangible) must exist to promote growth and retention in a non-private practice setting. A proper compensation plan must consider revenue and non-revenue-generating activities within the context of the academic orthopaedic department to maintain the department's mission. This article discusses these issues and provides an overview of solutions available to structure an appropriate compensation plan that encourages academic and clinical productivity yet remains sensitive to divergent goals and values of the department's members.