"The Influence of Physician Payments on the Method of Breast Reconstruction"

Journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, October 2018

Using the Blue Health Intelligence® database from 2009 to 2013, patients were identified who underwent tissue expander (i.e., implant) or free-flap breast reconstruction. The implant-to-flap ratio and physician payments were assessed using quadratic modeling. Matched bootstrapped samples from the early and late periods generated probability distributions, approximating the odds of surgeons switching reconstructive methods.