How much money is each physician worth to a hospital?

An average of $1,560,688 a year in net revenue, according to a new study by Irving-based Merritt Hawkins, a national physician search firm and an AMN Healthcare company.

The survey asked hospital chief financial officers to quantify how much revenue physicians in 18 specialties generated for their hospitals in the previous 12 months, including both net inpatient and outpatient revenue derived from patient referrals, tests, prescriptions and procedures performed or ordered in the hospital…

The average revenue for all medical specialties included in the survey is up from $1,448,458 in 2013, the last year Merritt Hawkins conducted the survey. Revenue generated by 11 of the 18 medical specialties increased compared to 2013.

Orthopedic surgeons topped the list of physicians examined in the survey. A full-time orthopedic surgeon generates an average of $2,746,605 a year on behalf of an affiliated hospital, an invasive cardiologist $2,448,136, a neurosurgeon $2,445,810 and a general surgeon $2,169,693.