The association between gender and industry payments to minimally invasive surgeons.

BACKGROUND

It is unknown if there are differential industry payments to surgeons based on gender. This study aims to examine differences by gender for industry relations with minimally invasive surgeons, using speakers at the SAGES Annual Meeting as a proxy for key thought leaders in minimally invasive surgery.

METHODS

We queried the Open Payments Database for payments made to US speakers from the 2023 SAGES meeting. All payments from the prior fiscal year prior were collected. The National Provider Identity (NPI) Registry was cross-referenced to determine surgeon's self-reported gender. Industry sponsors were analyzed based on differences in payments made.

RESULTS

A total of 305 speakers were assessed, with 175 (57.4%) males and 130 (42.6%) females. Of the 305 speakers, 246 were listed in the OPD. There were 145/175 (82.8%) males who were received general payments, compared to 101/130 (77.6%) females (p = 0.326). The total amount of industry payments was $2,894,287 for males and $1,539,481 for females. Median payments were 2.8X higher for males ($4657, IQR $422-$15,798) than females ($1651, IQR $299-$9005) (p = 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Despite efforts to decrease gender bias in surgery, there remains a significant and substantial difference in payments towards male and female surgeons via industry relationships. This has potential downstream effects on career development, consulting and research opportunities, and development of new devices.