Plastic Surgery Physician: how many are there, and how many are in private practice?

National totals

What this specialty covers

A plastic surgeon deals with the repair, reconstruction or replacement of physical defects of form or function involving the skin, musculoskeletal system, craniomaxillofacial structures, hand, extremities, breast and trunk and external genitalia or cosmetic enhancement of these areas of the body. Cosmetic surgery is an essential component of plastic surgery. The plastic surgeon uses cosmetic surgical principles to both improve overall appearance and to optimize the outcome of reconstructive procedures. The surgeon uses aesthetic surgical principles not only to improve undesirable qualities of normal structures but in all reconstructive procedures as well.

Reading the sole-proprietor share

For this specialty, 2,046 records, or 24.9%, are flagged as sole proprietors in NPPES. Treat that share as an indicator of how records are classified, not a direct measure of private practice: the field is self-reported and may not capture ownership, employment, contracting, group affiliation, or other practice arrangements.

By state

New NPI registrations by year

Counts reflect the year each NPI was first issued, among records still active today. The final year is partial: this data covers through 2026-01-11.

Data notes

• The sole-proprietor field is self-reported by the provider in NPPES and is an imperfect proxy for private practice.
• A sole-proprietor count shown as <11 is suppressed: the true value is below 11, which could include zero.
• An active NPI record is an identifier record, not proof that a physician is currently seeing patients or performing surgery.
• Primary taxonomy and sole-proprietor status depend on NPPES reporting and may be incomplete, outdated, or selected differently across providers.
• This taxonomy covers both reconstructive and cosmetic plastic surgery, so the count does not distinguish between those areas of practice.
• Providers are counted once, by their primary taxonomy code only.

Source: CMS National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) Data Dissemination file, FOIA-disclosable public data under CMS-6060-N. Aggregated by Hero EMR on 2026-08-03; deactivated NPIs excluded; specialty assigned from the primary taxonomy code (NUCC 25.1). Counts below 11 are suppressed. Individual providers are never published. All provider data pages.

Common questions