Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34901691›Full record

ArticleJB & JS open access

Disparities Among Industry's Highly Compensated Orthopaedic Surgeons.

Joseph X Robin, Sudarsan Murali, Kyle D Paul, Alexander M Kofskey, Anthony L Wilson, Adam M Almaguer, Bradley W Wills, Gerald McGwin, Amit M Momaya, Eugene W Brabston and 1 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in JB & JS open access. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Observational
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Joseph X RobinDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, New York University, New York, NY.ORCID 0000-0001-7941-7009
Sudarsan MuraliSchool of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama.ORCID 0000-0003-1731-2732
Kyle D PaulDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama.ORCID 0000-0003-3637-6782
Alexander M KofskeySchool of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama.ORCID 0000-0002-0027-6651
Anthony L WilsonSchool of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama.ORCID 0000-0002-6296-0723
Adam M AlmaguerDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama.ORCID 0000-0002-9246-7796
Bradley W WillsDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama.ORCID 0000-0002-8772-222X
Gerald McGwinDepartment of Epidemiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama.ORCID 0000-0001-9592-1133
Amit M MomayaDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama.ORCID 0000-0003-3157-4739
Eugene W BrabstonDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama.ORCID 0000-0002-2015-7713
Brent A PonceHughston Clinic/Hughston Foundation, Columbus, Georgia.ORCID 0000-0002-8925-540X

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The prosperous financial relationship between physicians and industry remains a highly scrutinized topic. Recently, a publicly available website was developed in conjunction with the U.S. Affordable Care Act to shed light on payments from industry to physicians with the goal of increasing transparency. The purpose of this study was to assess possible relationships between industry payments and orthopaedic surgeon gender, subspecialty training, and practice settings.

methodsA retrospective analysis was performed using publicly available information from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to identify the 25 orthopaedic surgeons with the highest compensation from each of the 10 largest orthopaedic companies from 2013 to 2017. Statistical analyses were conducted to investigate the factors that contributed to payment differences.

resultsAmong the 347 highest-compensated orthopaedic surgeons, only 1 woman (0.29%) was identified. Orthopaedic surgeons in the subspecialties of spine (32.9%), adult reconstruction (27.9%), and sports medicine (14.5%) made up a majority of the 25 highest earners. A larger proportion of the physicians in this study worked in private practice (57.6%) compared with an academic setting (42.4%). Orthopaedic surgeons who subspecialize in sports medicine had significantly higher total mean payment amounts when compared with all other specialties. The primary method of compensation was found to be through licensing or royalty payments.

conclusionsThe large majority of orthopaedic surgeons who are highly compensated from industry are men. Among these, the greatest number specialize in the spine, while sports medicine surgeons receive significantly higher total mean payment amounts. Additional studies are warranted to evaluate the disparities between men and women and encourage policies to promote gender equality.

Identifiers

PMID34901691
PMCPMC8654451

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.