The Sunshine Act Open Payment Database: A 7-Year Analysis of Trends Within Plastic Surgery and Its Subspecialties

Introduction: Industry financial relationships for physicians in the United States are reported publicly in the Sunshine Act Open Payments Database. This study aims to highlight trends and compare plastic surgery with subspecialty data, such as hand and craniofacial surgery. Methods: The Open Payments Database was utilized to retrieve all industry relationship payments made to plastic surgeons in the United States from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2023. The individual payment dollar values per plastic surgeon were evaluated along with their subspecialty, payment year, type of financial relationship, partnering company, and region. Results: On average, there were 35,333 individual payments made to 4050 plastic surgeons, 1336 payments made to 208 hand surgeons, and 1091 payments made to 214 craniofacial surgeons each year. The top five percent of plastic surgeons received 85.0% of the total payment value, while the top five percent of hand and craniofacial surgeons received 99.8% and 87.8%, respectively. Royalties and licensing were the largest type of payment by dollar value for general plastic (43.0%) and craniofacial surgeons (98.4%), but ownership or investment interest was the most valued type of payment for hand surgeons (48.0%). Conclusion: Within the Open Payments Database, there were a variety of industry payments made to plastic, hand, and craniofacial surgeons over the last 7 years. Current trends suggest that the majority of payment dollar value will continue to go to a specific minority of those in plastic surgery and its subspecialties in the form of royalties, licensing, or ownership and investment interests.