Women neurosurgeons receive half the Medicare reimbursement of male counterparts

Editor's Note

From 2013 to 2020, women neurosurgeons received half the reimbursement dollars from Medicare compared to their male counterparts, JAMA Network October 11 reports. This investigative study, titled "Gender differences in Medicare practice and payments to neurosurgeons," was published by JAMA Surgery.

The researchers analyzed data for 6,052 neurosurgeons serving Medicare fee-for-service patients. Among the findings:

• Only 512 (8.5%) of the surgeons were female. 
• Female neurosurgeons submitted about $396,000 in charges annually to Medicare on average, 48% less than what male neurosurgeons charged—about $766,000.
• Even when accounting for the number of services, patients, and years in practice, women were still reimbursed about $25,000 less than men.
• Women were also paid $26.41 less per service on average than male surgeons for the same services.

The study authors write that there is a need for female neurosurgeons to receive mentorship around building a productive practice and using optimal billing and coding practices.