Patient perceptions on physician reimbursement in plastic surgery

Area of Science:

• Plastic Surgery
• Health Economics
• Patient Perception Studies

Background:

• Public perception often assumes high physician reimbursement for procedures, contrary to actual trends.
• Investigating patient understanding of plastic surgeon reimbursement from insurance is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess patient perceptions of insurance reimbursement fees for common plastic surgery procedures.
• To compare patient estimates with actual reimbursement rates.

Main Methods:

• A survey was conducted with 140 patients regarding four common, single-staged plastic surgery procedures.
• Participants provided opinions on current insurance reimbursement fees and their perceived appropriate fee levels.

Main Results:

• Eighty-four patients completed the survey, overestimating physician reimbursements by 290% to 1061%.
• Specific overestimations included breast reduction (472%-1061%), abdominal hernia repair (347%-770%), panniculectomy (372%-787%), and mandibular fracture repair (290%-628%).
• Despite overestimations, 87% of patients believed reimbursements should be higher.

Conclusions:

• Patient estimates of plastic surgery procedure fees were substantially higher than actual amounts.
• Educating patients on current fee schedules is essential to correct misconceptions about plastic surgeon reimbursements.