By Dr. James M. Dahle, WCI Founder
It's a simple proposition. You have valuable knowledge and can always use a little extra money. Various companies want that knowledge and are willing to pay for it. Why not get the two parties together and make a deal that causes them both to be better off? You can take surveys for money. You can make money taking online surveys. Online surveys for cash. Got it?
Recommended Physician Survey Companies
So, which companies should you try out? Here are the ones we recommend. Note that we have an affiliate relationship with each of these companies. If you sign up with them, we get paid a few bucks. Thank you for going through these links to support the mission of The White Coat Investor. You also sometimes get a special deal by going through these links that you can't get by going directly to the company.
#1 All Global Circle
The All Global Circle community is set up to provide a clear, easy, and efficient means of communication between the pharmaceutical industry, the research industry, and those professionals who are using new developments and end products on an ongoing daily basis. If All Global Circle can't get you a survey to take within 90 days, they'll pay you a loyalty bonus just for logging in and checking a couple of times per month. By signing up through these links, you'll get an extra $50 just for being a member of the WCI community. It generally pays within two weeks of survey completion.
Sign Up for All Global Circle today!
#2 Curizon
Curizon, like most of these companies, primarily works with pharmaceutical companies to find the new “CUres” on the “hoRIZON.” Get it? It will work with all kinds of professionals including:
- Physicians
- Pharmacists
- Managed Care Professionals
- Nurses
- Dentists
- Nutritionists
- Eye Care Professionals
- Veterinarians
Curizon generally pays within 2-6 weeks of survey completion.
Sign Up for Curizon today!
#3 Zoom Rx
ZoomRx surveys are quick, easy and tailored to your specialty. If you need to step away for a second you can automatically pick up where you left off the next time you log in. You can choose PayPal as your payment method and get paid instantly. Or they offer payment by check.
Sign Up for Zoom Rx today!
Why Doctors Should Take Paid Surveys
Why would someone want to become a paid survey-taker? There are a fair number of reasons besides the obvious.
#1 Take Surveys for Money
A surprising number of doctors are looking for a side gig. Multiple streams of income are a good thing. Taking surveys isn't ever going to overtake your clinical practice as your main source of income, but you can make a surprising amount of money doing them as a physician, especially compared to non-physician online survey companies.
#2 Start a Business and Get a Solo 401(k)
Here's another big reason people want to do surveys. If you are an employee at your practice, one big advantage of taking surveys is that you get some self-employment (1099) income. Since you and your employer are completely unrelated employers, that means you can start an individual or solo 401(k). Yes, that's right, you can have more than one 401(k). Assuming you're maxing out the 401(k) at your main gig, you can contribute 20% of what you make doing surveys into the solo 401(k). You can also roll traditional, SEP, and SIMPLE IRAs into it, allowing you to do a Backdoor Roth IRA, at least if Congress continues to allow them after 2021. Be sure to treat the enterprise as a real business. Get an Employee Identification Number and a separate business bank account. Treat its finances separately from your own. Report the income and put any expenses on Schedule C and SE each year.
#3 Make a Difference
These companies really do want to know what you think, so much so that they're willing to pay you for your knowledge and opinion. This influences the products they come out with, how they market those products, and perhaps even what they charge for those products. Most of the time we're talking about medications here, but there are certainly surveys about other products.
#4 Learn About New Products
Let's not kid ourselves. These companies also want to get the word out about their new medications and other products, and they want to develop brand recognition. Why shouldn't you get paid for them to advertise to you? Plus, you'll be up to speed on the latest and greatest.
How Much Can You Make Taking Physician Online Surveys?
It depends on how many surveys you take, how much each survey pays, and how quickly you can take them. No matter how many companies you sign up for, you're not going to get enough surveys that you can spend all day just taking surveys. You have to take them as they come. But it's pretty easy to knock them out during some downtime during the day, while watching TV, while helping with homework in the evening, or while commuting on public transit.
The companies generally send you a check 4-6 weeks after the study or survey is complete. Hourly rates while actually taking the survey range from $60-$300 per hour, although most surveys won't take an hour. If you really make an effort at this, it would not be terribly difficult to make $1,000-$2,000 per month on surveys. In at least one case, WCI columnist Rikki Racela made $30,000 in a year by taking surveys. An extra $10,000-$20,000 might not be much for a super-efficient and busy plastic surgeon, but it's enough to move the needle for lots of doctors and it is life-changing money for a resident or fellow.
What About the Screen-Outs on Medical Surveys?
One of the biggest complaints of doctors who have tried surveys is that they often get five or 10 questions into the survey only to learn that they will not be paid to take it. They are “screened out.” This can be particularly annoying as it often feels like they already got your opinion and valuable advice just in the screen-out questions and didn't bother compensating you for it. There are a few ways to work around this.
#1 Play the Game
With some experience, you can often figure out what the company is looking for and make sure you screen in, rather than out. Obviously, you don't want to compromise your integrity for $100, but there is some gamesmanship here in the gray areas.
#2 Take a Lot of Surveys Knowing the Screen-Outs Will Happen
You can also view the screen-outs simply as part of the job. Even if you're screened out of 3/4 of the surveys, is it still worth your time? If so, then quit beating yourself up about screen-outs.
#3 Let Market Forces Adjust
These companies know that survey-takers hate being screened out. So they have an incentive to minimize the screen-outs, too. If one company screens you out more than the others, quit taking their surveys and take the ones from companies that don't screen you out. If not enough docs are willing to even try their surveys, it may force these companies to pay you something less than the full survey price when they screen you out. Some companies already do this outside the physician survey space, although they're only paying 5-25 cents for screenouts.
#4 Fill Out Your Profile Completely and Carefully
Many sites allow you to fill out a profile. They use this profile to decide which surveys to send you. The more completely you fill it out, the fewer surveys you will get but also the fewer screen-outs you will get. That means that a much higher percentage of the surveys you do take will go all the way.
#5 Take the Survey Soon
Most companies hiring a survey company only want a certain number of responses. There may be quotas for each type of group—50 emergency docs, 50 family docs, and 50 internists for instance. The sooner you take the survey, the more likely you are to get in before they get their required number of responses.
#6 Read Questions Thoroughly and Don't Rush
Believe it or not, there are people who just click through surveys as quickly as possible to try to get paid. Obviously, the data from those survey-takers is worthless. So the companies actually screen out people who go too fast. Especially if you miss a question such as, “The answer to this question is B. Please select B,” that has been specifically inserted to catch people doing that and screen them out. If the survey is supposed to take 20 minutes, don't finish it in two.
#7 Stick to Short Surveys
Shorter surveys tend to have fewer qualifying questions and may even pay more on an hourly basis.
Does Your Medical Specialty Matter for Online Surveys?
Unfortunately, yes. Years ago when I looked into doing surveys, I discovered that my opinion as an emergency doctor was worth dramatically less than that of an endocrinologist, rheumatologist, neurologist, or dermatologist. Why? Because my main prescriptions are on the Walmart $4 list. If you're prescribing $10,000+ a month biologics, your opinion is a whole lot more valuable than mine! Don't get me wrong, there are surveys for every specialty, but some definitely have an advantage.
What About the Sunshine Act?
Many doctors would prefer their names not appear in the public database of the Sunshine Act, which requires pharmaceutical companies and medical device makers to report all payments and gifts made to physicians. Payments to physicians for participating in pharmaceutical and medical device marketing research are typically made by research companies, instead of manufacturer-sponsors. Those payments are, in most cases, excluded from reporting under the Sunshine Act law.
Do I Have to Pay Taxes on Online Survey Income?
Yes, all earned income is taxable, even if the compensation comes via gift cards. The companies aren't required to send you and the IRS a tax form unless you earn $600+ in a year, but you're required to report it all as income.
Ready to Get Started Taking Surveys?
So, what should you do if you're serious about this? Should you form a company before doing medical surveys?
#1 Get an EIN
The first thing I would do is get an Employer Identification Number (EIN). You don't have to do so. You can simply use your own personal Social Security number. You'll automatically have a sole proprietorship and file a Schedule C for this new business. However, if you want to open a Solo 401(k) to shelter 20% of your survey income, you will need an EIN so you might as well get it now. It's fast and free from the IRS. Seriously, it's super easy. Like 30 seconds easy.
#2 Open a Business Bank Account and Paypal
Next, open a business bank account at your bank or credit union. Get a Paypal account, too, for your new business. Link them together. Route all income and expenses for this business through those accounts. You don't have to do this, but it will make your accounting MUCH easier at tax time.
#3 Sign-Up with All the Companies Above
Which company to sign up with? Sign up with all of them. Why not? It's free and easy. You can sign up with all five in less time than it takes to open a bank account. As time goes on, you will likely find you get more surveys from some than others. That's OK. No harm done. Be sure to use the WCI links above for special deals and to support our mission.
#4 Return and Give Feedback Below in the Comments
After you gain experience working with these companies, come back and tell your fellow white coat investors about it. Maybe you can inspire another doc to begin doing their own side hustle without having to actually spend much time doing it.
If you are already doing surveys, share your experience. Which companies do you like best and why? Which do you not like so much? What other companies should we add to the list? Which ones pay the most and the quickest? Which are least likely to screen you out? Comment below! If you have specific issues with any of the companies listed here, reach out to [email protected]. We typically can help you get these resolved in a timely manner.
I strongly advise against signing up for Curizon. I attempted two surveys with them. The first contained a major logic flaw that prevented me from continuing the survey. I reported this, yet it was never resolved. The second I spent 20 minutes completing, and after reaching a message that said I had completed the survey save for some final demographic questions, I completed those demo questions only to be informed I was screened out. I reported this as well and escalated the matter until a manager “confirmed” I had been screened out. Absolute nonsense.
Are the surveys open for retired physicians?
You’d have to check with each one individually. I bet some would still be interested in your opinion, especially if you’re a recent retiree.
Question related to disclosures re finances and pharma- for survey work, do these have to be reported in conflict of interest statements when publishing an article or giving a talk? Do you even find out which pharma company you’re working with/ causing the COI?
Seems an appropriate disclosure to me, assuming it can be done.
You never find out which pharma company is sponsoring the survey. Always a middleman company in between.
Does anyone know if there are surveys for medical lab directors (PhD)? It’s not clear from these lists.
Never seen one.
Ya “The science advisory board”
For purposes of jumping into this for solo401k contribution, do you need a business PayPal account or can you just have checks sent directly to you or to a business checking account e.g. Schwab? In other words do some survey sites only wire money though the likes of PayPal? Thanks!
hey UCSB (UC Santa Barbara?) however you get paid has no bearing on making a solo401k contribution. the survey companies can differ in how you get paid. most have the option just to send a check, though many have options to get a visa rewards card, amazon money, etc. You do not need a business PayPal account, nor do you need checks sent directly to business checking account. having checks sent to you personally is fine. I have not seen a survey site that will only wire money through something like PayPal.
Awesome, thank you! Yes, UC Santa Barbara!
Depends on the company. I think some are paypal only. No big deal though, Paypal is easy to use.
Best to have a business account and if you need to use Paypal, having a dedicated account to this business activity. That’s just good practice. If you’re going to do a solo 401(k), you’re going to need an EIN and that’s what should be used for the bank account.
Thank you, as always!
Are residents able to complete surveys? I’m a family medicine resident.
Some, yes.
You did not recommend many of the top paying survey companies for physicians. Atheneum, Reckner, Schlesinger, Guidepoint, and Zoomrx pay much higher rates and are much easier to work with. Some of the survey companies you recommend don’t disclose how long their surveys take before doing them so you can’t make an educated decision to decide if the time is worthwhile. I do about 300 surveys and interviews a year for the last years so I have a lot of exposure to all the companies out there. DrMoves.com
Thanks for sharing John. We’ll reach out to those companies.
Does anybody have any experience in podiatrists (DPM) being able to do these?
Don’t know how many surveys they would get, but why not sign up and see? Or shoot that question around to the various companies and ask how many podiatry surveys you’d get in a year to decide if it’s worth your time.
I plan to start a solo 401k with survey money. For my survey company 1099’s, should I be entering my EIN or SSN for tax purposes. Does it matter?
EIN
Shoot, I had already entered my SSN. Will this pose a problem when opening a solo 401k?
I doubt it, but I’d try to change it if you can.
no worries man, I sometimes made the mistake of putting my SS#, and sometimes the tax form you have to fill out online doesn’t even allow you to put ein#, just the SS#. It didn’t matter in the end as the 1099 you receive still goes to you, and you report on your taxes the 1099 income as part of you company and make your solo401k deduction based on that.
I would recommend Sermo, Schlesinger and M3 global
Currently a first year osteopathic medical student. Ever seen any paid surveys for students?
No. Sorry.
I already received a 1099 for my survey income last year 2022. I don’t have an EIN. Can I make one now for my taxes this year or it should be done prior to enrollment in surveys?
Also just wanted to confirm that survey income is not reportable under sunshine act
It should be done prior to working, but you can probably do it a little later with no big deal as long as you pay all the tax due.
https://www.insightsassociation.org/News-Updates/Articles2/View/articleid/15541/dnnprintmode/true/mid/24853?SkinSrc=%5BG%5DSkins%2F_default%2FNo+Skin&ContainerSrc=%5BG%5DContainers%2F_default%2FNo+Container
Because payments to physicians for participating in pharmaceutical and medical device marketing research are typically made by research companies rather than manufacturer-sponsors, and to physicians whose identities are unknown to the manufacturer-sponsors, those payments are excluded from reporting under the Sunshine Act law
So it would appear it is not reportable.
Hey, I’m not exactly sure with the new Secure 2.0. I defer to the experts on this one, but I think you can now open a solo401k including getting the EIN right before tax day and it’s not too late.
If not, Then you can do what I did pre-secure 2.0. In march 2019 my EIN would not be able to apply for the previous year Bc technically really didn’t exist as a business the previous year. I opened a SEP-IRA to take any tax deduction for 1099 income from 2018 and then got ein and opened the solo 401K with my new EIN and then did a rollover of the sep into the solo 401k.
Are these surveys primarily involving prescribing? Has anyone in one of the non-prescribing fields (ie. diagnostic radiology, pathology) had any luck screening into surveys?
Hi WCI, I have two questions regarding surveys and the solo 401k.
1. Let’s say you do surveys through multiple website and you only make >$600 on some of them so you only get 1099s from some of them. Are you anyway able to count all the money you got from all the surveys (even the ones that never sent you a 1099 form) towards that 20% you can put in a solo 401k?
2. Last year I made a non-insignificant amount by doing these surveys, but ended up not opening a solo 401k. I used my SSN for all the surveys websites and I know that I’m going to have to get a EIN to open a solo 401k. My question is, can I use the EIN to open the solo 401k, keep using my SSN on all the websites and fund the solo 401k without the pain of having to change my SSN to EIN on every single survey website?
Thanks for all your help.
1. Yes, not only are you able to but you MUST count all of your income. The $600 limit has nothing to do with your tax bill, only their requirement to report your income to the IRS.
2. Can you? Probably. Should you and would I? No. Best practice is to use an EIN for a business and make sure the business has its own bank account and if needed credit card etc.
That makes sense. Thanks to both of you for answering my questions. Follow up questions:
1. Do I need to make quarterly estimated payments for my survey money given that I’ll be receiving a 1099? I’ve been reading conflicting info on this.
2. I currently do internal moonlighting and get paid through a W2. If I pick up external moonlighting and wish to put 20% of what I make on a retirement account, can I use the same EIN and solo 401k I’m using for surveys? Thank you.
1. Yes, you do have to make quarterly estimated payments on survey money but alternatively you can increase your withholding on the W4 form at your W2 job. I usually just increase the withholding on my wife’s W2 paycheck because it is much to do it that way for me, but whatever works best for you.
2. Yes, for your external moonlighting you can use the same EIN and solo401k 🙂
1. Do you HAVE to make quarterly estimated payments? Not necessarily. For many people with a relatively high ratio of 1099/W-2 income the only way they can stay in the safe harbor is to make quarterly estimated payments. But a doc who makes $400K as an employee and $5K doing surveys probably isn’t going to have to.
2. You can’t use a solo 401(k) nor should you use an EIN if your moonlighting gig treats you as an employee.
Hey frugalmd, for your first question not only can you use money that is less than $600 to count toward your solo401k, but you are required to report that income even though you might not get a 1099. I have to be honest sometimes if I don’t a 1099 I might miss a payment that was under $600, but I try to be as honest as possible. In my experience I always get a 1099 even if it was for only $20!
As for your second question, I would try changing to your EIN from your SS# if you can. It doesn’t really matter in the end but just makes everything workout cleaner. I myself didnt actively change from my SS# to EIN but rather waited for when I got a W4 and then Put my EIN. Most if not all companies will ask you to fill out a W4.
Has anyone had any survey or interviews with key quest health? Do they actually pay the honorarium? I completed an interview and haven’t heard anything back.
Yes! Might take awhile sometimes can take months! Not too unusual for survey companies to pay in that timeline they like waiting until a study is complete and then start processing payments to everyone.
Don’t know that one, let us know how it goes.
Hi there! I’m trying to do PSLF which I know requires me to work for a non profit full time. If I do a sole proprietorship (that’s for profit) as you suggest here, the income generated from these surveys wouldn’t disqualify me from PSLF right?
Not so long as you’re still working full time for a non profit.
If I get an EIN to do the surveys to get 1099 income can I then deduct business expenses like paying for my medical license ( my current employer does not reimburse or cover that cost)
While lots of people do mistakenly deduct the entire cost of the medical license, the right thing to do is to only deduct the part of it you used to do the surveys. So if your income is 99% clinic and 1% surveys, you could deduct 1% of the medical license cost from your survey income.
The EIN doesn’t affect things one way or another just like forming an LLC or a corporation wouldn’t.
technically you can deduct the proportion of your income that is 1099 vs. W2, but likely your survey money is pennies compared to how much you make in your W2 job.
Any feedback on ImpactNetwork? I’m a medical oncologist.
I believe there would be a lot of surveys for you! oncology is a field with so many drugs. I myself as a neurologist have been doing Impact Network surveys and even got a free iPad back in the day (about 9 years ago now) where I still do monthly input of prescribing habits. they’ve been a great company for years for me and have been paying consistently for these past 9 years.
I’ve done a few surveys with Sermo and Medscape. My total was less than $600. Will they email me to let me know how much I cashed out or am I supposed to keep track to add to my income? If it’s less than $600, do I still have to pay taxes on it?
they will send you a 1099 a couple of months before tax day, though since your below $600 they might not as they are not required to below that amount. in my experience survey companies still send a 1099 even if your income total is below $600. I like to keep track of the income I receive but since I usually always get a 1099 I don’t necessarily have to. You should since you are making less than $600 and yes, you have to report that income and pay taxes on it.
You’re supposed to keep track of all earned income. I wouldn’t expect an email.
Yes, you still owe taxes on it even if they’re not required to tell the IRS about it.
Thanks for all the work you do to help medical providers to become financially educated.
I appreciate the useful comments in this topic discussion.
I’m on the fence about starting doing these surveys because of the added complexity vs. financial reward.
I like to keep things as simple as possible at this stage of my carrier. I’m fortunate to have accumulated decent 401K, Roth, taxable accounts savings. I also will get a pension when I retire.
I already do other recommended simpler tax saving techniques such as max out retirement plan, HSA, backdoor Roth, asset “location” and tax loss harvesting.
I think it could be nice to start a solo 401K but for 20% of say $10-20,000 of 1099 income ($2,000-4,000 or less a year), is it really worth the extra paperwork, tracking, accounting, tax reporting, fees, etc. in my situation?
Is it possible and wise just to do the surveys on the social security #, report the extra income as 1099-MISC and pay the tax at marginal bracket for simplicity’s sake?
Wonder how many are doing this easier but less tax efficient way to make some extra money thru these surveys?
No harm to try a few surveys. Why not skip the solo 401(k) the first year and see how it goes? There isn’t much extra hassle to just putting a 1099 onto a Schedule C come tax time.
Thanks for the quick response.
It seems reasonable to try a couple of companies this year without the solo 401 (k).
I have to agree with Jim. The tax savings is definitely important for myself. It was minimal effort to open up a solo 401(k) probably took me 10 minutes. there wasn’t actually any paperwork. It was all done online. I track the money I make on excel spreadsheet which is super easy. I let my accountant know how much I made, and ask him how much I can contribute to my solo 401K before tax day of the next year. Super easy and minimal hassle!
Great thread. Is it by default that these surveys’ payments are not reported to Sunshine act, or it depends on research company/survey? I assume if our names are kept anonymous to the research company then they wouldn’t be reported but wanted to see what is your experience. Thanks!
Yeah dude you are anonymous and there’s no reporting the only time it would be reported would be if they were able to identify you somehow.
This might be more of an issue for surveys where you’re actually being interviewed and they can hear your voice or they actually see you on camera. In that case, the observers of the interview might know who you are and be obligated to report any income you make from those interviews.
Great. Thanks so much!
Jim,
There have been so many complaints about MD for Lives. Why do you still have them on your preferred list??
That’s a good question. We have removed MD For Lives from the list and deleted the comments since they are no longer listed.