A Retrospective Study of Orthognathic Surgery Reimbursement and Volume Changes at an American Academic Medical Center Over a 13 Year Period

Objective To measure the association of orthognathic surgeon reimbursement and surgical volume over time. Study design A retrospective cohort study of orthognathic surgery patients from 01/01/2010 to 12/23/2022 at an AMC. Five patients per year were randomly selected and evaluated for insurance type and associated costs to create representative averages. Pearson Correlations were used to test associations (n=13; number of years) with two-tailed significance reported and statistical significance set at p-value <0.05 Results 618 patients undergoing 942 procedures were included. The average procedure charge was $6,153.76 and average total surgeon collection was $1,535.75 per procedure. When adjusted to 2010 buying power there was a negative correlation between average charge per procedure and the year (r(11)= -0.59, p=0.04). The year was not significantly correlated with average amount collected (r(11)= -0.09, p=0.78) or average insurance reimbursement (r(11)= -0.52, p=0.07). Conclusions Collection by surgeons did not change significantly over 13 years and was not correlated with the volume of procedures performed. Increased collection was correlated with increased patient cost. Stagnation of surgeon collection is concerning in the face of increased monetary inflation during this period. Increased volume of surgeries per year was correlated to decreases in patient cost and total collection.