Evaluation of Medicare Reimbursement and Surgical Patterns for Male and Female Colorectal Surgeons

There are documented differences in salary for male and female surgeons. Understanding the differences in the clinical practice, composition of male and female surgeons may provide a better understanding of reimbursement differences. We aim to evaluate the differences of Medicare reimbursement for different categories of clinical practice for male and female colorectal surgeons.

This retrospective cohort study compared Medicare claims made by male and female board-certified colorectal surgeons from the Medicare Provider Utilization and Payment Data between 2013 and 2017. Medicare claims were categorized by surgeon gender. Submitted claims were evaluated based on the following seven procedure categories: open abdominal surgery, laparoscopic abdominal surgery, anorectal surgery, diagnostic endoscopy, therapeutic endoscopy, and inpatient/outpatient services. The main outcomes were number of charges submitted by clinical activity category and procedural code variation billed through Medicare. Secondary outcome was category of procedure activity that each surgeon cohort had participated in.

A total of 62,866 claims were reviewed, of which 10,058 (16.0%) were made by female surgeons and 52,808 (84.0%) were made by male surgeons. On average, male surgeons submitted more claims per year, a greater variety of claims per year, and higher revenue generating claims than female surgeons (P < 0.001).

Male and female colorectal surgeons may participate in different categories of clinical activities that result in male surgeons performing more and higher relative value units-generating activity than female surgeons.