Specialty Prescribing Profiles

How different medical specialties prescribe — with peer-comparison statistics used in our anomaly detection model.

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Why This Matters

A pain management specialist prescribing 50% opioids is normal. A family doctor at 50% is a red flag. Our specialty-adjusted scoring compares each provider to their peers, not to a universal threshold. These profiles show the baseline for each specialty — the standard against which anomalies are measured.

SpecialtyAvg Opioid Rate ▼90th %ile95th %ile
Hand Surgery46.5%77.7%83.8%
Interventional Pain Management45.9%71.6%77.9%
Pain Management41.2%68.3%74.3%
Anesthesiology34.8%65.1%70.8%
Hospice and Palliative Care33.2%60.9%67.1%
Orthopaedic Surgery32.1%57.5%70.3%
Orthopedic Surgery31.0%58.3%67.1%
General Surgery30.2%64.3%73.1%
Surgical Oncology28.9%63.6%74.5%
Neurosurgery27.0%54.3%62.7%
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery25.8%48.0%58.6%
Colon & Rectal Surgery25.0%54.4%55.2%
Surgery23.0%55.3%68.7%
Neurological Surgery21.8%44.1%58.2%
Maxillofacial Surgery21.6%39.5%45.6%
Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery21.3%37.2%44.9%
Oral Surgery (Dentist only)20.6%38.0%43.2%
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation20.2%54.7%62.6%
Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA)20.0%50.2%59.6%
Plastic Surgery18.7%36.5%40.7%
Thoracic Surgery15.6%43.1%55.0%
Sports Medicine15.2%38.4%48.1%
Colorectal Surgery (Proctology)14.5%32.9%39.5%
Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine, Sports Medicine13.4%42.6%46.5%
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery)12.8%35.4%64.6%
Gynecological Oncology12.3%30.9%37.1%
Vascular Surgery11.4%31.0%41.0%
Cardiac Surgery11.0%34.8%51.0%
Emergency Medicine9.4%20.5%23.7%
Radiation Oncology9.4%24.9%30.4%
Physician Assistant9.2%35.6%49.0%
Interventional Radiology8.2%26.6%42.1%
Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine7.5%23.7%40.5%
Podiatry6.9%20.6%28.4%
Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation6.7%29.1%37.3%
Hematology-Oncology6.3%14.1%18.0%
Chiropractic5.9%25.5%33.9%
Medical Oncology5.9%14.1%17.2%
Medical Toxicology5.7%20.4%32.0%
Dentist5.7%22.4%28.7%
Diagnostic Radiology5.6%25.5%35.9%
Otolaryngology5.4%16.8%26.1%
Undefined Physician type5.3%16.0%29.2%
Hematology5.1%12.6%18.6%
Specialist5.0%21.4%29.4%
Micrographic Dermatologic Surgery4.9%14.7%21.3%
Military Health Care Provider4.6%17.1%40.5%
Medical Genetics, Ph.D. Medical Genetics4.4%21.3%27.5%
Student in an Organized Health Care Education/Training Program4.3%19.7%35.1%
Addiction Medicine4.3%12.4%38.1%

Showing 50 of 110 specialties

How We Use This Data

These specialty averages power our peer comparison system. When we flag a provider, it's because they deviate significantly from their own specialty peers — not from an arbitrary universal threshold. This approach reduces false positives and ensures that specialties with legitimately higher prescribing (like pain management) aren't unfairly flagged.

Statistics computed from 1,077,163 providers across 110 specialties with 50+ claims. Data: CMS Medicare Part D, 2023. Methodology