Data Analysis
Medicare Costs by Specialty in New Jersey
Medicare reimbursement rates vary significantly across medical specialties. This analysis examines average Medicare payments per service for providers in New Jersey, ranked by reimbursement level. Understanding these differences helps contextualize specialty costs and resource allocation across the healthcare system.
Context: Industry payments to physicians are legally required to be disclosed under the Physician Payments Sunshine Act.
Receiving payments does not imply wrongdoing. Payments may reflect consulting expertise, research participation, or speaking engagements.
This data is provided to support transparency, not to render clinical judgments.
Average Medicare Payment by Specialty — New Jersey
CMS Open Payments| # | Specialty | Avg Medicare Payment | Providers | Total Services |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dentist | $427 | 9 | 1,315 |
| 2 | Pediatric Cardiology | $245 | 1 | 201 |
| 3 | Phlebology Physician | $244 | 1 | 1,056 |
| 4 | Transplant Surgery Physician | $238 | 6 | 2,150 |
| 5 | Thoracic Surgery | $225 | 70 | 26,408 |
| 6 | Dentist - General Practice | $225 | 2 | 634 |
| 7 | Plastic Surgery | $185 | 58 | 14,078 |
| 8 | Sleep Medicine (Psychiatry & Neurology) Physician | $167 | 3 | 1,201 |
| 9 | Nuclear Medicine | $159 | 8 | 22,056 |
| 10 | Medical Toxicology (Emergency Medicine) Physician | $147 | 4 | 786 |
| 11 | Neurocritical Care Physician | $145 | 6 | 1,875 |
| 12 | Other Technician | $143 | 1 | 1,295 |
| 13 | Radiology - Diagnostic | $142 | 97 | 277,732 |
| 14 | Vascular Surgery Physician | $141 | 105 | 154,766 |
| 15 | MOHS-Micrographic Surgery Physician | $139 | 23 | 78,792 |
| 16 | Neurological Surgery | $138 | 119 | 39,211 |
| 17 | Surgical Oncology Physician | $133 | 38 | 16,477 |
| 18 | Epilepsy Physician | $126 | 4 | 2,069 |
| 19 | School Psychologist | $123 | 1 | 179 |
| 20 | Hospice and Palliative Medicine (Emergency Medicine) Physician | $122 | 1 | 219 |
| 21 | Ph.D. Medical Genetics | $122 | 1 | 29 |
| 22 | Gynecologic Oncology Physician | $120 | 25 | 6,959 |
| 23 | Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery (D.M.D.) | $119 | 4 | 359 |
| 24 | Colon & Rectal Surgery | $119 | 41 | 19,287 |
| 25 | Clinical Neurophysiology Physician | $118 | 13 | 10,310 |
| 26 | Retina Specialist (Ophthalmology) Physician | $118 | 19 | 261,166 |
| 27 | Maternal & Fetal Medicine Physician | $116 | 3 | 1,269 |
| 28 | Anesthesiologist Assistant | $116 | 3 | 46 |
| 29 | Bone Densitometry Radiologic Technologist | $115 | 1 | 417 |
| 30 | Radiography Radiologic Technologist | $113 | 1 | 427 |
State payment context — New Jersey
CMS Open PaymentsAcross 46,038 New Jersey providers with at least one disclosed industry payment over 2018–2024, the median provider received $371 in total payments, compared with a national median of $339 across 1,571,086 paid providers.
New Jersey accounts for 2.1% of the $16,205,257,917 in industry payments recorded nationwide in this database, and its per-provider median runs above the national benchmark.
Top specialties by median industry payment — New Jersey
| Specialty | Median per provider | Providers paid | Total payments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology Physician | $25,072 | 44 | $2,829,660 |
| Adult Reconstructive Orthopaedic Surgery Physician | $12,319 | 36 | $7,412,071 |
| Orthopaedic Surgery of the Spine Physician | $8,109 | 73 | $3,464,883 |
| Hematology | $7,889 | 40 | $8,397,270 |
| Interventional Cardiology | $6,928 | 105 | $2,385,232 |
Industry payments in New Jersey by year
| Year | Total payments | Providers paid | Transactions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | $45,986,262 | 20,759 | 380,627 |
| 2019 | $48,810,387 | 21,147 | 393,830 |
| 2020 | $34,524,888 | 17,106 | 229,998 |
| 2021 | $43,875,590 | 23,514 | 376,248 |
| 2022 | $49,751,493 | 26,230 | 430,479 |
| 2023 | $62,150,201 | 28,391 | 469,426 |
| 2024 | $57,511,794 | 29,879 | 512,157 |
Methodology
Average Medicare payment per service calculated from Medicare Part B Utilization data for providers licensed in New Jersey. Only specialties with at least one recorded procedure are included. Average reflects the mean of per-service payment amounts across all procedures within each specialty grouping, not total expenditure. Data source: CMS Medicare Part B Utilization, accessed via doctransparency.com database.