database

How much Medicare pays doctors

By Dan Keating, Cristina Rivero, Kat Downs and Emily Chow, Published: April 9, 2014

Note: This database is no longer being supported.

For the first time, the government is releasing detailed data about medicare payments to doctors, revealing what procedures doctors performed and what they were paid. The trove of billing records shows that thousands of physicians made more than $1 million each from Medicare in 2012. Dozens billed for more than $10 million. Billing for a large amount is not necessarily a sign of wrongdoing.

Doctors may be unusually efficient, may perform procedures that require high overhead, or may treat an especially large number of Medicare patients. Government inspectors, however, have recommended greater scrutiny for high billers.

Medicare paid doctors $64 billion in 2012. Most of it was for expenses.

Medicare paid doctors $64 billion in 2012, but most of it paid expenses.

First name:

Last name:

Specialty:

City:

State:

Specialties with large percentages of their Medicare payments going to:

Office overhead

These specialties have very high investments in equipment and staff.

	Total paid, in millions	Percentage of total Medicare payments
Diagnostic radiology	$3,400	75%
Radiation oncology	1,499	75
Interventional radiology	146	71
Pathology	990	67
Vascular surgery	485	66
Allergy/immunology	161	62
Dermatology	2,233	61
Otolaryngology	639	57
Optometry	635	57
Oral surgery (dentists only)	10	56

Drugs and other costs

These specialties often have to administer expensive drugs.


Nurse anesthesiologist	$297	99%
Anesthesiologist assistants	3	99
Medical oncology	805	64
Rheumatology	1,042	62
Hematology/oncology	2,701	62
Anesthesiology	856	61
Hematology	127	56
Nuclear medicine	63	50
Gynecology/oncology	53	34
Ophthalmology	5,580	27

Doctor compensation

These fields have less overhead, so most of the payment goes to the provider.


Licensed clinical social worker	$83	79%
Clinical psychologist	279	78
Emergency medicine	2,171	74
Psychiatry	704	66
Hospice and palliative care	11	65
Critical care (intensivists)	208	62
Chiropractic	398	62
Certified clinical nurse specialist	31	61
Infectious disease	520	60

Malpractice premiums

Surgeons pay relatively more toward malpractice.


Cardiac surgery	$179	9%
Neurosurgery	307	9
Thoracic surgery	150	9
Plastic and reconstructive surgery	126	6

Profile

Doctor pay

Overhead

Malpractice

Drugs/other

Total paid

Procedure (HCPCS code)	No. of patients	No. of procedures	Total paid

Doctor	Specialty	City	State

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Note: Descriptions of the medical procedures and related codes are from the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT®) code set, which is copyrighted by the American Medical Association.

Source: Department of Health and Human Services Department, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services