Median Medicare payment $171K per dermatologist in 2013
(HealthDay)—The median Medicare payment was $171,397 per dermatologist in 2013, according to a research letter published online Nov. 16 in JAMA Dermatology.
Adewole S. Adamson, M.D., M.P.P., and Stacie B. Dusetzina, Ph.D., both from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, examined the characteristics of Medicare payments to dermatologists using the Medicare Physician and Other Supplier Public Use File. After grouping services, they summarized the mean payments by service category. Overall, 10,726 dermatologists were identified in the database, representing 1.2 percent of all health care professionals and 3 percent of total Medicare payments.
The researchers found that per dermatologist, the median payment was $171,397. The mean reimbursement for evaluation and management (E/M) was $77.59 per unit while the mean per-procedure reimbursement for Mohs was $457.33 per unit. Overall, 98.9 and 19.9 percent of dermatologists received an E/M and Mohs-related payment, respectively. Top-billing dermatologists received a higher proportion of payments from Mohs and flaps/grafts and a lower proportion from E/M compared with lower-billing dermatologists. More than half of total payments were received by the top 15.9 percent of dermatologists.
"For most physicians, Medicare patients only represent a portion of their practice population," the authors write. "However, in the changing reimbursement landscape, dermatologists will be under increased pressure to demonstrate the value of the services they provide."
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