Data Analysis
Medicare Costs by Specialty in Ohio
Medicare reimbursement rates vary significantly across medical specialties. This analysis examines average Medicare payments per service for providers in Ohio, 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 — Ohio
CMS Open Payments| # | Specialty | Avg Medicare Payment | Providers | Total Services |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Prosthodontics | $902 | 1 | 43 |
| 2 | Thoracic Surgery | $279 | 116 | 26,315 |
| 3 | Phlebology Physician | $209 | 1 | 732 |
| 4 | Transplant Surgery Physician | $198 | 22 | 4,339 |
| 5 | MOHS-Micrographic Surgery Physician | $177 | 24 | 56,678 |
| 6 | Therapeutic Radiology Physician | $155 | 5 | 6,447 |
| 7 | Flight Registered Nurse | $142 | 1 | 22 |
| 8 | Orthopaedic Surgery of the Spine Physician | $129 | 46 | 31,887 |
| 9 | Independent Medical Examiner Physician | $123 | 1 | 51 |
| 10 | Mental Health Clinic/Center (Including Community Mental Health Center) | $118 | 1 | 212 |
| 11 | Surgical Oncology Physician | $117 | 35 | 5,503 |
| 12 | Neurocritical Care Physician | $116 | 11 | 2,819 |
| 13 | Retina Specialist (Ophthalmology) Physician | $115 | 19 | 238,762 |
| 14 | Exercise & Sports Psychologist | $111 | 1 | 132 |
| 15 | Addiction Medicine (Preventive Medicine) Physician | $111 | 8 | 3,612 |
| 16 | Psychoanalysis Psychologist | $110 | 1 | 224 |
| 17 | Addiction (Substance Use Disorder) Psychologist | $109 | 1 | 96 |
| 18 | Multi-Specialty Clinic | $107 | 1 | 14 |
| 19 | Neurological Surgery | $105 | 184 | 102,642 |
| 20 | Colon & Rectal Surgery | $101 | 56 | 12,754 |
| 21 | Pediatric Otolaryngology Physician | $101 | 2 | 158 |
| 22 | Clinical Genetics (M.D.) Physician | $101 | 3 | 412 |
| 23 | Pediatric Urology Physician | $100 | 1 | 16 |
| 24 | Critical Care Medicine (Anesthesiology) Physician | $99 | 45 | 7,670 |
| 25 | Emergency Medical Services (Emergency Medicine) Physician | $99 | 33 | 12,292 |
| 26 | Community Health/Public Health Clinical Nurse Specialist | $97 | 1 | 62 |
| 27 | Surgical Critical Care Physician | $97 | 45 | 10,871 |
| 28 | Pediatric Hematology & Oncology Physician | $95 | 2 | 333 |
| 29 | Military Health Care Provider | $94 | 8 | 2,083 |
| 30 | Ph.D. Medical Genetics Physician | $94 | 1 | 14 |
State payment context — Ohio
CMS Open PaymentsAcross 61,806 Ohio providers with at least one disclosed industry payment over 2018–2024, the median provider received $307 in total payments, compared with a national median of $339 across 1,571,086 paid providers.
Ohio accounts for 3.4% of the $16,205,257,917 in industry payments recorded nationwide in this database, and its per-provider median runs below the national benchmark.
Top specialties by median industry payment — Ohio
| Specialty | Median per provider | Providers paid | Total payments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orthopaedic Trauma Physician | $15,866 | 26 | $2,178,361 |
| Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology Physician | $12,361 | 83 | $2,537,407 |
| Hematology | $11,368 | 54 | $3,885,454 |
| Sports Medicine (Orthopaedic Surgery) Physician | $7,385 | 93 | $3,249,154 |
| Adult Reconstructive Orthopaedic Surgery Physician | $7,332 | 44 | $17,050,034 |
Industry payments in Ohio by year
| Year | Total payments | Providers paid | Transactions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | $83,337,684 | 22,590 | 430,722 |
| 2019 | $84,128,557 | 22,750 | 414,912 |
| 2020 | $53,490,809 | 17,860 | 211,553 |
| 2021 | $69,659,301 | 29,221 | 425,543 |
| 2022 | $83,176,200 | 34,100 | 514,508 |
| 2023 | $91,455,224 | 36,534 | 566,470 |
| 2024 | $91,521,679 | 38,529 | 593,269 |
Methodology
Average Medicare payment per service calculated from Medicare Part B Utilization data for providers licensed in Ohio. 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.