Deep Dive into Medical Surveys for MD/DOs

Tl;dr: For the US-based generalists, surveys can generate $8000 annually. This is not peanuts in the long run if you can build this into your routine. Your time is valuable so only you can decide what your time is worth. In general, I would argue that the $248/hr compensation rate (phone surveys) is appropriate and competitive for generalists. There are ways to increase the likelihood of "screening in" (see below). The most active survey companies currently are Sermo (Get $25 for signing up:

https://app.sermo.com/register/start?refid=a54aa0b8-0ad4-4e64-b3c5-daac5e77a94c&utm_campaign=tell-a-friend) and OpinionSite (http://incrwd.me/r/9N-s) . Both offer the highest value activities - phone surveys (interviews) which compensate on average at $248/hr. Other active sites include m3 (http://m3gr.io/KTOMGQW/6573939 ), m-panel (http://m3gr.io/RHRMIWE/7740261 ), and AllGlobal (http://m3gr.io/ZRAMMDD/7350881 ).

Introduction:

I started doing surveys as a Med-Peds Resident just to make a bit of extra cash. When I became a hospitalist in 2022, I was curious to see how much I could make without having to spend additional clinical time. [Side note: I'll address this later under Critiques, but suffice it to say that if you're looking to make the maximum amount in as short a time as possible then taking more shifts/producing more RVUs is going to be your most productive option.] I had seen White Coat Investor posts from a neurologist touting $30,000 annual revenue from surveys. I wanted to see what a generalist (again Med-Peds) could generate.

Experiment:

Phase 1: This phase started in January 2024 with maximal effort in all of the survey markets including All Global, InCrowdAnswers, M3, m-panels, OpinionSite, and Sermo. At first, I simply tracked date of payment, amount of payment, and survey company. I wanted to answer these questions: (1) which survey companies offered the most opportunities and (2) how much could one make. I was describing this experiment to fellow physicians and started to receive interest and critiques. Two important critiques that I will address more thoroughly below were (A) was the total annual revenue subsantial enough and (B) how much time was I having to spend. In order to answer these questions, I transitioned into Phase 2.

Phase 2: Thise phase began in June 2024 with continued maximal effort in all the survey companies but now logging "time spent". I am going to continue Phase 2 through December 2024 and then analyze my data for a final report. However, I am creating this blog as a way to share this ongoing experiment.

Results:

Figure 1 reports monthly revenue in total, whereas Figure 2 excludes revenue from referral bonuses. The monthly revenue grew each month initially (from January 2024 to June 2024) before reaching a plateau with the monthly average after plateau of $715/month. This initial positive growth I would attribute to adding OpinionSite in April and "learning the market" (see below under Recommendations).

Figure 1. Monthly Revenue in 2024 with Referral Bonuses.

Figure 2. Monthly Revenue in 2024 without Referral Bonuses.

Conclusion 1: Projected Annaul Revenue for US-based generalist attending physician is $8590 USD. THis calculation assumes average monthly revenue of $715 which does not include referral bonuses.

Figure 3 and 4 examine which survey companies offered the most revenue generation. FIgure 3 includes referral bonuses whereas Figure 4 does not.

Figure 3. Total revenue generated organized by company. Total Revenue here includes referral bonuses.

Figure 4. Total revenue generated organized by company. Total revenue here excludes referral bonuses.

The comparison of Figures 3 and 4 highlights the large portion of Sermo revenue that came from Referral Bonuses : 62% of Sermo revenue was generated from Referral bonuses. This also drove Sermo to be an outsized contributor to Total Revenue. When Sermo Referral Bonuses were not included, revenue generated from Sermo drops to 43% from 67%. While Affiliate Links with Sermo helped to drive over $3000 of revenue, these Affiliate Links also resulted in loss of Social Media access through bans of account.

Conclusion 2: Sermo and Opinion Site provided the most opportunities for revenue generation accounting for 70% of revenue even after excluding referral bonuses.

Conclusion 3: If Affiliate Marketing can be appropriately implemented, then it can become a significant source of passive revenue.

Figures 5 and 6 delineate revenue by activity.

Figure 5. Total Revene generated by activity, including Bonues. Bonuses here includes not only referral bonuses but also sign on bonuses (which were an insignificant minority of the Bonus category).

FIgure 6. Total Revenue generated by activity, excluding Bonuses.

Phone surveys are less frequently offered with only eight phone surveys during the study period. However, phone surveys account for 38% of revenue (after excluding Bonuses). Online surveys still account for 61% of revenue but was reimbursed at a lower hourly rate (Figure 7).

Figure 7. Lists the hourly rate by major activity, Phone Surveys (interviews) and Online Surveys.

Conclusion 4: The highest value activity are phone surveys (interviews) which reimburse at $248 per hour vs online surveys which reimburse at rate of $86 per hou

The companies that currently offer phone surveys (interviews) are Sermo (4 phone interviews during study period) and OpinionSite (also 4 phone interviews during study period). OpinionSite seems to offer these more frequently but this respondent only qualified for four.

Discussion/Critiques:

There are four major critiques of this side hustle:

(A) The total possible revenue is "peanuts". At just over $8000 per year for a US-based generalist, this is a valid critique. Other sub-specialists may have opportunities to earn more than this average. If a physician is looking to make the maximal amount of revenue in as short a time as possible, then there are better alternatives. If a physician is looking to make extra revenue and wishes to concentrate their efforts, then again there are better alternatives. The most logical alternative for both scenarios is picking up extra shifts for the shift-work lifestyle physician (ED doc, hospitalist, subspecialist with call). However, if you are a US-based generalist looking into side hustles in order to decrease clinical time, then $8000 per year is not insignificant over a 20 year career. Consider $8000 annually at a 7% compounded interest rate. This will result in approximately $340,000 over a 20 year career. Depending on the specialty, that is 1-1.5 year salary. For a surgeon or procedure-heavy specialist, this may be peanuts. But for me (a shift working hospitalist), I will consider how I can work some of these opportunities while on shift.

(B) You make too little per hour doing surveys. This entirely depends on your specialty and what the hourly rate is. In this study, I have reported $248/hour for phone surveys (interviews) which for an IM-hospitalist is more than 1.5x the current MGMA rates. Online surveys reimburse at $86 per hour (a little over half the current MGMA rates). Personally, I will only do phone surveys after concluding this study.

(C) I tried signing up but don't qualify for any surveys! In retropsect, I wish I had recorded every survey I did not qualify for in order to be able to report the time spent on unsuccessful screen outs. Unfortunately, I did not. I can add that there were many surveys that I also did not qualify for. I can offer a few strategies that I employed or observed that increased survey screening capture.

(1) Companies prefer experienced attendings. They seem to have a problem with any experience less than 2 years. If you are a resident or new attending, you may want want to consider waiting until you have >2 years experience as an attending.

(2) companies prefer physicians from developed markets and especially US. Most surveys are designed and paid for by pharmaceutical companies. Their target audience are physicians who will be prescribing their drugs or looking at their advertisements. I cannot speak to the experience of a non-US based physician in this market. However, I would suspect that there would be less survey opportunities.

(3) Otherwise, my advice is to:

(i) Sign up for all the most active companies: Sermo, OpinionSite, Reckner. (ii) Sign up for their email alerts (OpinionSite is reliable to send emails when surveys are available). Some sites (Sermo in particular) have email alerts but are not reliable. I would check Sermo's website three times a day while on shift to increase my capture rate.

(iii) For online surveys, always answer "yes" when they ask you if they can folllow up. This will open up opportunities for phone interview surveys.

(iv) Finally, read your audience. The surveys are designed and paid for by pharmaceutical companies. You typically will know the topic before even starting the screening questions. So for example, I will never even attempt a survey on Dermal FIllers or Botox since I know they would never want a hospitalist as a respondent. If the survey is about vaccines, then there is a good chance they are looking for physicians who treat children.

Conclusion.

Tldr. For the US-based generalists, surveys can generate $8000 annually. This is not peanuts in the long run if you can buid this into your routine. Your time is valuable so only you can decide what your time is worth. In general, I would argue that the $248/hr compensation rate is appropriate and competitive for generalists. There are ways to increase the likelihood of "screening in" (see above). The most active survey companies currently are Sermo (sermo.pxf.io/an3krZ) and OpinionSite (http://incrwd.me/r/9N-s) and both offer the highest value activities - phone surveys (interviews) which compensate on average at $248/hr.