By Emily Rappleye

Physician compensation increased across the board from 2017 to 2018, with primary care physicians earning a 3.4 percent increase, specialty physicians earning a 4.4 percent increase and advanced practice providers earning 2.9 percent more, according to data from the Medical Group Management Association.

Physician pay has followed an upward trajectory over the past five years, with total compensation growing between 7 percent and 11 percent across all specialties. MGMA credits this growth in compensation to the physician shortage. The tight labor market leaves many practices competing to attract new hires, driving up salary and compensation packages.

Here are the five specialties that experienced the biggest increase in median total compensation in 2018:

Diagnostic radiology — 7.71 percent increase in median total compensation

Obstetrics/gynecology — 7.69 percent increase

Surgery, neurological — 7.46 percent increase

Cardiology, noninvasive — 7.45 percent increase

Neurology — 6.72 percent increase

Data is based on a voluntary survey of more than 147,000 providers across 5,500 organizations.