Physician compensation accounted for 8.6 percent of total health

— or $216 billion of the $2.5 trillion spent on healthcare, according to data from the Overseas Employment Development Board and a survey from healthcare staffing firm Jackson Healthcare.

However, the physician compensation distribution is the second-lowest among western countries with "modern healthcare systems," according to the survey. Sweden spent the least, allocating 8.5 percent of healthcare costs to paying physicians.

Germany (15 percent), Australia (11.6 percent), France (11 percent) and the United Kingdom (9.7 percent) were some of the other countries that outspent the United States on physician compensation as a percentage of healthcare expenditures.