While numbers varied widely depending on organizational factors, healthcare CIOs earned an average base salary of $208,417 in 2012, according to a recent survey conducted by CHIME.
The survey, which drew responses from small, medium-sized, large and rural facilities, drew responses from 263 CIOs from late December 2012 and early January 2013.
Some key findings from the survey included the following:
* Multi-hospital, academic medical center execs make more The average base salary reported for multi-hospital system execs was $254,054. and the academic medical center CIOs reported an average $243,229 base salary.
* Smaller-hospital CIOs make much less Top IT execs at the smallest hospitals, CAHs with 25 beds or less, got an average base salary of $125,573. Execs at hospitals with fewer than 200 beds reported an average base salary of $150,956, or about 28 percent than the overall average, notes iHealthBeat.
* Standalone execs make less CIOs with stand-alone community hospitals also responded lower income than the average, at $178,786, roughly 14 percent less than the overall average.
* Titles matter, a lot Hospital leaders with the title of CIO had average base salaries of $199,890, about four percent less than the overall survey average, but when they had additional titles salaries went up starkly. CIOs who were also titled vice president had an average salary of $206,788, while those with CIO and executive vice president had an average salary of $310,326, or almost 49 percent over average. Meanwhile directors of IS or IT averaged $128,193, or about 38 percent less than the survey average.
* Reporting relationships count As iHealthBeat reports, salaries varied depending on who the CIO reports to in the organization. The 44 percent of respondents who report to the CEO earned ann average of $217,170, or about 4 percent more than average. Meanwhile, those reporting to the CFO earned an average base salary of $175,263, or 16 percent less than the average of salaries reported.
* Few and small raises reported Despite the huge amount on health IT execs’ plates, most survey respondents reported minimal pay raises, with almost 75 percent saying that their base salaries increased by less than 5 percent between 2011 and 2012.
So, readers, how do these numbers look to you? Do they reflect the realities of your institutions? And how about those low raises — think hospitals are risking losing critical talent by holding that line?
