Male Cardiologists Receive Higher Medicare Payments

Study raises questions about whether there are sex differences in the intensity and scope of Medicare billing.

The gender wage gap in cardiovascular medicine is well documented. In a cross-sectional analysis from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), researchers studied differences in reimbursement for U.S. cardiologists by gender. The study included 20,273 cardiologists (13% women) who received CMS reimbursements in 2016.

Men received significantly higher median payments than women in both inpatient ($62,897 vs. $45,288) and outpatient ($91,053 vs. $51,974) settings. Men submitted more charges and more unique billing codes than women. Differences in reimbursement by gender persisted after adjusting for number of charges, number of billing codes, complexity of patient panel, years since graduation, and subspecialty. Excluding the upper …

Reviewing Author

Fatima Rodriguez, MD, MPH, FACC, FAHA

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardNovoNordisk; HealthPals; Novartis; Amgen

EquityHealthPals; Carta

Grant/Research SupportNational Institutes of Health/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; American Heart Association–Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Editorial BoardsCardiology and Therapy