BACKGROUND: There has been tremendous growth in the performance of ambulatory surgical procedures. Traditional forms of peer review, commonplace for hospital-based procedures, are not typically performed in the office-based setting. Hospital credentialing of physicians has been suggested to be a means of assuring patient safety. Credentialing committees may be unaware of the level of experience of typical office-based physicians who perform cutaneous surgery. PURPOSE: To compare the levels of cutaneous surgery experience of dermatologists and other surgical specialists. METHODS: Medicare claims data on number of cutaneous surgery procedures performed by various medical disciplines, including dermatologists, plastic surgeons, general surgeons, and others, were obtained from the 1998-1999 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) and analyzed. The number of physicians in each specialty was used to normalize the data to a per physician basis. RESULTS: Dermatologists performed half (50%) of the complex repairs and most of the excisions (58%) and intermediate repairs (62%). Dermatologists performed more flaps (40% of all flaps) than any other specialty, while plastic surgeons performed more total grafts (38%) than any other specialty. Dermatologists and plastic surgeons performed similar numbers of full-thickness skin grafts, while plastic surgeons performed more split-thickness skin grafts. CONCLUSION: As dermatologists seek hospital credentials for performing cutaneous surgery procedures, these data should help surgical colleagues understand the typical level of experience of their dermatologist colleagues.
BACKGROUND: There has been tremendous growth in the performance of ambulatory surgical procedures. Traditional forms of peer review, commonplace for hospital-based procedures, are not typically performed in the office-based setting. Hospital credentialing of physicians has been suggested to be a means of assuring patient safety. Credentialing committees may be unaware of the level of experience of typical office-based physicians who perform cutaneous surgery. PURPOSE: To compare the levels of cutaneous surgery experience of dermatologists and other surgical specialists. METHODS: Medicare claims data on number of cutaneous surgery procedures performed by various medical disciplines, including dermatologists, plastic surgeons, general surgeons, and others, were obtained from the 1998-1999 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) and analyzed. The number of physicians in each specialty was used to normalize the data to a per physician basis. RESULTS: Dermatologists performed half (50%) of the complex repairs and most of the excisions (58%) and intermediate repairs (62%). Dermatologists performed more flaps (40% of all flaps) than any other specialty, while plastic surgeons performed more total grafts (38%) than any other specialty. Dermatologists and plastic surgeons performed similar numbers of full-thickness skin grafts, while plastic surgeons performed more split-thickness skin grafts. CONCLUSION: As dermatologists seek hospital credentials for performing cutaneous surgery procedures, these data should help surgical colleagues understand the typical level of experience of their dermatologist colleagues.