Today we know a little more about provider compensation in the Federally Qualified Health Center world — at least a little more than what we knew yesterday about the compensation of Medical Directors and Dental Directors. Merces’ analysis of the Form 990 filings of more than 1,100 FQHCs paints a picture that shouldn’t really surprise anyone, except those arguing that bonuses and incentive compensation run rampant, or those trying to sell you an expensive new plan.
What we can say with a great deal of certainty is that the vast majority of compensation for both Medical Directors and Dental Directors is reported as coming from base salary. More than 95% of it, to be specific. For the Medical Director role, non-base compensation doesn’t hit 5% until we reach health centers with more than $30 million in revenue. Average salaries for Medical Directors range from just under $150,000 in the smallest health centers to more than $250,000 in the largest — overall, however, the “middle 50%” is surprisingly narrow with about 250 of the 500 total in the sample earning between $163,000 and $215,000 (a range of just over 30%) of the overall average of just less than $200,000.
Compensation for Dental Directors seems much less tied to FQHC size — this may partially be a function of the fact that dental practice size doesn’t necessarily tie to overall FQHC size. Overall, Dental Director base salaries are in the neighborhood of $150,000, with a “middle 50%” range of $128,000 to $170,000.
On average, incentive/bonus cash makes up 2.25% of the W-2 compensation received by Medical Directors. Even that number is deceiving, since more than half received no bonus or incentive compensation at all, and 75% have only about half a percent (.58%) in that type of income. Dental Director results are similar, although slanted somewhat higher by a few outliers in a relatively small sample.
More results of the 2012 study will soon be available from Merces; contact me at ebura@mercesconsulting.com to receive updates as they become available.
FQHC Compensation Resources from Merces 
What about Dental Hygienist, how effective FQHC
Salaries for dental hygienists in the FQHC environment tend to be reasonably consistent with what we see in private practice; however, this is also a position that has a large number of part-time employees, and you will see some at relatively high rates and others that appear below market.
Thank you for your responses,can I speak with you about this matter PLEASE. I really need help. I’m seeing 8-11 patients a day. I have been a Dental Hygienist for 20 + years. Could I please speak with you about this matter.