Most Profitable Procedures by Time

[ScalpelStrike]

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What are the most profitable surgical procedures per hour spent in the OR?

Profit meaning surgeon reimbursement not total patient billing. The number will obviously vary based on state and insurance but lets say on average based on everyone's experiences. Immediate answers that comes to mind might be certain plastics/spine/tumor cases but those seem to be high reimbursement and also high OR time, bringing down overall $/hour.

 

[Buzz Me]

That's kind of a strange question. Are you trying to decide what specialty to go into based on perceived reimbursement?

Or are you compiling some sort of list for research purposes?

 

[thedrjojo]

I hear you get paid a lot for office visits, but only if you chart well!

 

[bannie22]

I think it is nephrectomy followed by ACDF but Im not 100% sure

If you ask insurance companies or hospital billing they might know best

 

[mimelim]

What are the most profitable surgical procedures per hour spent in the OR?

Profit meaning surgeon reimbursement not total patient billing. The number will obviously vary based on state and insurance but lets say on average based on everyone's experiences. Immediate answers that comes to mind might be certain plastics/spine/tumor cases but those seem to be high reimbursement and also high OR time, bringing down overall $/hour.

The biggest problem with this question is that there is no standard amount of time to spend in an OR for a given case. A tibial angioplasty can take 3 hours or it can take 1 hour. Turn over time is also a big difference maker. For example. At a well run private practice that owns their own cathlab, a single surgeon doing 4-6 complex cases before 2pm is not crazy. On the other hand, at many big academic centers, doing 2-3 in a day would be an achievement. In my experience, how the practice is setup and how efficient it is dictates profitability far more than the pathology being treated.

 

[DoctwoB]

The biggest problem with this question is that there is no standard amount of time to spend in an OR for a given case. A tibial angioplasty can take 3 hours or it can take 1 hour. Turn over time is also a big difference maker. For example. At a well run private practice that owns their own cathlab, a single surgeon doing 4-6 complex cases before 2pm is not crazy. On the other hand, at many big academic centers, doing 2-3 in a day would be an achievement. In my experience, how the practice is setup and how efficient it is dictates profitability far more than the pathology being treated.

To extrapolate from this, which cases are more profitable depends highly on your efficiency and your OR's efficiency. If you have an efficient surgery center with rapid turnover, often smaller cases in higher volume will pay more highly. In the big academic center with slow turnover, a few bigger whacks may make more.

 

[cpants]

ESWL

 

[sab3156]

LASIK, in my opinion. A skilled LASIK surgeon can do a pair of eyes in about 12 minutes and make about $5K. PRK can be even faster since you don't have to cut flaps with an intralase laser. Plus, it's an elective surgery that brings in cash payments directly from the patient.

Competition for clients is pretty high, though.

 

[vhawk]

oh **** it isnt whipples?

 

[thedrjojo]

oh **** it isnt whipples?

****

 

[armybound]

ESWL

this was my thought, except it actually takes a while. as far as actual physician time, obviously very low.

I bet you could knock out a ton of office cystos in the time you finish one ESWL, even at 2/sec, with better reimbursement