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.
Objective:
Medical device companies rely on surgeons' input to develop safe, effective products. For transparency, industry partners must publicly disclose payments via the Open Payments (OP) program, established through the Sunshine Act. We aim to examine the prevalence and factors influencing consulting payments made to academic vascular surgeons.
Methods:
Faculty from integrated vascular surgery residencies were identified, and data on clinical experience, training, and research output were collected using OP, program websites, LinkedIn, and Scopus. Univariate linear, univariate logistic, and multivariate linear regression analyses were performed.
Results:
From 75 programs (25% without consultants), 697 vascular surgeons were identified. Of these, 622 (89.2%) received $5,033,069 in total general payments and 117 (19%) received $2,168,496 (43%) in consulting payments in the 2022 fiscal year. Consultants received a general payment median of $12,966, significantly higher than non-consultants' $506 (p < 0.001). Median total consulting fees were $4400, and consultants had significantly more publications (p < 0.001), higher Hirsch indices (P < 0.001), and were less commonly females (p = 0.002) than non-consultants. There was no statistical association between consulting payments and clinical experience, research productivity, or biological sex.
Conclusion:
Approximately 1 in 5 academic vascular surgeons receive consulting payments. While consultants have significantly more publications and higher H indices than non-consultants, consulting payments received in dollars are not influenced by these factors. Female academic vascular surgeons are underrepresented in consulting, but the payments made to those who do consult do not significantly differ from their male counterparts.
