Ortho Salaries

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Jive Turkey

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I've heard stories about how managed care and medicare have cut reimbursements for some fields (take for example cataract surgery in ophthalmology).

Why haven't some fields, like Ortho, experienced this?

Who decides that reimbursement for carpal tunnel release deserves x amount of money?

Any info on the origin or theoretical basis for reimbursement fees?

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Ortho has experienced this as well. Some procedures continue to reimburse great carpal tunnel release being one and just about any spine procedure is another example. However, many procedures have been cut dramatically over the years, total joints for instance has taken major hits.

As for your question of who decides. In one word, medicare. Medicare sets their standards or cuts their reimbursement and private insurers soon follow.
 
I have often wondered why ortho seems to have made it through a lot of medicare cuts and still have a pretty high avg. salary. General surgery has taken some major hits, but fields like ent, and ortho seem to be doin' all right.

Interestingly, in my area of the country carpal tunnel surgery doesn't pay much at all. One ortho doc here called it the lap choly of ortho (referring to the low reimbursement)...
 
They don't pay a ton, but a hand surgeon with his own surgery center can do 15 in an 8 hour day. At $800-1000 a pop, that is a pretty solid days work.
 
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