Hanley, M

Abstract Introduction The AUA Census offers broad insight into urology, however, there is limited information reported regarding sub-specialists. We designed a survey to capture similar data among urologists who treat male sexual health, including demographics, clinical practice characteristics, and job satisfaction. Objective To characterize the demographics, practice characteristics and job satisfaction of providers who treat male sexual health. Methods A survey was developed and distributed to all relevant professional urological societies for male sexual health providers, including GURS, ISSM, SMSNA and SUPS. Averages, modes, counts, and ranges were examined. The survey remains open and additional responses are expected. Preliminary analysis as of June 15, 2022, yielded 76 responses; 58 were complete. Results The survey remains open and additional responses are expected. Preliminary analysis as of June 15, 2022, yielded 76 responses; 58 were complete. Demographics: The average age of respondents is 42 years old. 52 (89.6%) respondents self-identify as male, 6 (10.4%) as female. 67% of respondents identify as white (n=39), 7% identify as Asian (n=4), 7% identify as Black or African American (n=4), 2% identify as American Indian/Native American or Alaskan Native (n=1) and 17% preferred not to select a race or selected “other” (n=10); respondents were able to select more than one racial identity. 16% of respondents identified themselves as having Hispanic ethnicity (n=9). 84% of respondents are married (n=49) with 21% divorced or currently going through a divorce (n=12). On average, respondents have 1.5 children (range: 0-3, mode: 2). Work-life: The majority (58%) of respondents work in academic practice (n=34). 19% work in private practice (n=11). Employed physician, multispecialty, solo and hybrid private-VA practices make up the remaining 22% (n=4, 5, 3, 1 respectively). 72% of respondents practice in cities with a population greater than 500,000 (n=42), 12% work in cities with populations between 100,000 – 500,000 (n=7), 14% serve towns of less than 100,00 (n=8). Satisfaction: The survey asked providers binary yes/no questions about career satisfaction. 88% affirmed “I would pursue this career again” (yes, n=51; no, n=7). 69% affirmed “I am satisfied with my current level of compensation” (yes, n=40; no, n=18). 52% affirmed “I am satisfied with my current work-life balance” (yes, n=30; no, n=28). Female responders were significantly more likely to indicate that they are dissatisfied with work-life balance (p=0.0074).100% of female respondents reported dissatisfaction compared to 42% of males. Conclusions To our knowledge, this survey is the first survey exclusively of male sexual health providers. Among survey respondents, the average practitioner is white, male, and married with two children under 18. They are in the first half of their career at an academic institution in an urban area. Although nearly 90% would choose their career again, 50% are dissatisfied with work-life balance. Gender has a significant impact on satisfaction. While averages reflect low diversity within the field, they suggest that gender parity is on track with national trends while racial and ethnic diversity may exceed that of general urology (ref 1). Disclosure No

Abstract Introduction Medical policy bulletins (also known as clinical policy bulletins) are insurance company guidelines for administering plan benefits. These documents purport to summarize current research, evidence-based guidelines, regulatory status, and physician opinion to determine whether insurers consider procedures and services to be medically necessary. These bulletins, along with member benefit plans, determine which services are covered. We have previously explored the lack of uniformity that exists for insurance payer coverage for penile prostheses. Here, we sought to expand this investigation to determine insurance coverage criteria for medical and surgical management of common men’s health conditions. Objective To determine covered benefits for sexual medicine conditions among the top United States healthcare insurers. Methods A list of common sexual medicine conditions was generated, including Peyronie’s disease, hypogonadism, erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation, incontinence, and buried penis. The most common treatment modalities for each condition were identified (see Table I). Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings were used to identify the top ten largest private insurers in the United States by member enrollment. This list was cross-referenced with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) 2020 Market Share Report (ref 1). The following list of the largest private US health insurers was thus developed: United, Anthem, Centene, Kaiser, Humana, CVS, Healthcare Service Corporation (HCSC), Cigna, Molina, and Independence Health Group (IBX). Kaiser and Centene were excluded due to lack of nationwide medical policy bulletins. We reviewed medical policy bulletins from the remaining 8 insurers to determine whether the specific treatments were identified as medically necessary, experimental/investigational, or cosmetic. Services and procedures deemed medically necessary were coded as “covered,” and those listed as investigational, or cosmetic were coded as “not covered.” If information about a specific condition or treatment modality was not found in a company’s policy bulletin, it was coded as “unknown.” Results In total, we recorded 143 data points, across the 8 insurance providers. Our review of medical policy bulletins yielded 60 (41.9%) instances where services were considered medically necessary and/or “covered”, 18 (12.6%) non-covered or investigational/cosmetic services, and 65 (45.5%) services with unknown coverage (Table I; covered=1, non-covered=0, unknown=2). Conclusions We encountered substantial difficulty in navigating and interpreting insurance coverage for various sexual medicine treatments and conditions based on review of policy bulletins from the topic insurance providers in the US. There was no readily identifiable coverage information for >45% of the data points that we collected, and instances of “unknown” coverage exceeded covered services across the collective of the largest private insurers. While 76.9% of conditions for which there was available data were covered, we are unable to draw generalizable conclusions for most conditions as there are significant deficits in the availability of policy information from online insurance sources. Further challenges in determining coverage include the additional layers of limitations in member plan benefits (i.e. plan exclusions), which could compound confusion for both physicians and patients. Disclosure Any of the authors act as a consultant, employee or shareholder of an industry for: Coloplast.