Medical technology consulting among academic vascular surgeons.
Nikita Gidh1, Brody King2, Liam Cato3
1Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, 1 Baylor Plz, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
American Journal of Surgery
|March 19, 2026
Summary
About 19% of academic vascular surgeons receive industry consulting payments. Consultants have more publications and higher research impact, but payment amounts are not linked to these factors or clinical experience.
Area of Science:
- Vascular Surgery
- Medical Device Industry
- Healthcare Economics
Background:
- Medical device companies depend on surgeon expertise for product development.
- The Open Payments (OP) program mandates public disclosure of industry payments to physicians.
- Understanding consulting payment dynamics is crucial for transparency in medical innovation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the prevalence of consulting payments to academic vascular surgeons.
- To identify factors associated with receiving these consulting payments.
- To analyze the characteristics of academic vascular surgeons involved in industry consulting.
Main Methods:
- Identified faculty from integrated vascular surgery residency programs.
- Collected data on clinical experience, training, and research output from OP, program websites, LinkedIn, and Scopus.
- Utilized univariate and multivariate regression analyses to assess payment factors.
Main Results:
- 19% of 697 academic vascular surgeons received $2.17 million in consulting payments in 2022.
- Consultants had significantly more publications and higher Hirsch indices than non-consultants.
- No statistical association found between consulting payments and clinical experience, research productivity, or sex; however, females were less represented among consultants.
Conclusions:
- Nearly one in five academic vascular surgeons engage in industry consulting.
- While academic standing (publications, H-index) correlates with being a consultant, it doesn't influence payment amounts.
- Female vascular surgeons are underrepresented in consulting roles, though their payment levels are comparable to male counterparts when they do consult.
