I had hernia surgery about 3 weeks ago. Laparoscopic, everything’s good, mostly recovered, and the bills are starting to come in. I’m somewhat surprised that the anesthesiologist is charging over 50% more than the surgeon, is that normally the case? I do know it took them multiple tries to intubate me before the surgery began, since I woke up with a bright green “DIFFICULT AIRWAY” bracelet and a bunch of paperwork describing the 4 different devices they tried to use, but I don’t know why/if that would cause a huge increase in the bill - the description said it was less than 10 minutes beginning to end to get the tube in. Do anesthesiologists normally make more than surgeons for routine surgery like mine?
For completeness - both amounts billed by the respective offices were fully approved by my insurance company as being at/below their negotiated rates for the procedures being billed for, so it’s not an insurance company thing.
I’ve always thought that anesthesiologist would be the type of doctor to be if you were one. In my experience they seem to make more than any other normal doctor. The best is the one who just wanders around the maternity ward giving epidurals which takes like 15 minutes of work and they get to charge like $1000.
Slight mistake - the insurance company did in fact reduce the amount paid to both doctors, but the ratio is the same - the anesthesiologist made 50% more than the surgeon.
I’m not a doctor but my understanding is that’s not unusual. Anesthesiologists might not have the prestige of surgeons but they’re full physicians and their contribution to the procedure is just as important as the guy doing the cutting. And I believe anesthesiologists have to pay higher malpractice insurance rates than most other doctors, including surgeons, do because of the number of complications which involve anesthesia.
To clarify - I’m just surprised she made significantly more than the surgeon, and wondering if that’s common. I’m fully aware that anesthesiologists are physicians, and that they’re a vital part of the surgery.
My brother in law is an anesthesiologist and he makes serious bank.
He said it’s because very few other doctors or surgeons are working on things that will instantly kill you quite dead or leave you a vegetable, but every time he works, regardless of the type or importance or seriousness of the surgery portion, that possibility to actually kill someone immediately is what is on his shoulders.
And yes, his malpractice insurance (that he has PERSONALLY) is insane. Be nice to your anesthesiologist - it’s a fiddly and delicate job with phenomenal consequences every single time.
I had to have a difficult tooth extraction by a dental surgeon, who did it in his office chair with general anesthetic. He charged me more for being put to sleep, than for the extraction. I was under for 35 minutes.
My sister gave birth to her third son at the hospital where she worked, on a gurney in a hallway on the way to obstetrics. Things went quickly.
Her health insurance paperwork showed that her anesthesiologist was paid in full, just as if he’d attended the delivery. In reality, he stopped by to say hi and joked about her speedy delivery.
One must also remember that the numbers on just about any medical bill (in the U.S.) are often arbitrary, random, made up, plucked from thin air, meaningless, etc etc
A HS friend of mine went on to med school and became an anesthesiologist. I’ve lost track of her since, but back then (ca. 1980) anesthesiologists typically got paid more than surgeons.
This says it better than I was going to. Highest malpractices rates incurred and every procedure they do is extremely risky. Even simple epidurals aren’t simple- screw up and you paralyze the diaphragm (as happened to my friend during labor)
In the OP’s case, the surgeon was presumably a general surgeon. It’s not unusual for an anesthesiologist to make more (both per procedure and in absolute terms) than a general surgeon. For spine, brain or cardiac surgery, it would be very unusual.
