Dermatologists perform more skin surgery than any other specialist: implications for health care policy, graduate and continuing medical education.

摘要

Dermatologists perform more surgical procedures on the skin than any other specialty, based on data from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) web site. Figures 1 through 12 are extrapolated from the raw CMS data and document the number of surgical procedures paid for by CMS in 1999 compared with 2004 (the last year for which complete data are available), compared by specialty and for selected Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes. Although these data do not represent all care provided in the United States, CMS is by far the most comprehensive insurer in this country. Based on the 2006 Annual Report of the Boards of Trustees of the Federal Hospital Insurance and Federal Supplemental Medical Insurance Trust Funds, CMS enrollment in 1999 was 39,187,000 (37,022,000-Part B) and in 2004 was 41,882,000 (39,099,000-Part B). This represents an increase of 6.9% (5.6%-Part B) in the 5-year period of this report.