You'll gladly let us inspect your paychecks, revealing every comma and zero to us in our annual salary surveys. Thank you to the 425 of you who responded to this year's survey, the results of which we report in "Is Your Compensation Fair?" (page 24). But you're rather uncomfortable showing us your reimbursement checks; you shielded them from our prying eyes by holding them close to your scrubs, and smacked our hands when we tried to sneak a peek at them for "Now You See Them: 5 Profitable Procedures" (page 44).

We conducted two online surveys last month. One asked for a look at paychecks - what you and your staff make. The other asked for a look at your reimbursement checks - what Medicare and private insurers pay for your, cha-ching, most profitable procedures.

Our ASC readers told us in no uncertain terms that they'll gladly tell us what they make, but don't dare ask what their facilities make. Paranoia? Or are the number of procedures you can profitably perform in an ambulatory surgery center dwindling to such a precious few that you can't afford to let insurers in on the few remaining gems?

"Medicare is always looking for a way to cut our reimbursement. Why give them this?" says one administrator. "There are so many procedures that we lose money on that we need to keep the few cases that are profitable to balance things out."

Like tympanostomy tube insertion. One ASC told us it bills $1,700 for 69436 and collects $501 from Medicaid and $750 from other payers.

Like bunion correction. One ASC told us it bills $2,700 for 28299 and collects $1,600.

Like laparoscopic cholecystectomy. One ASC says it bills $3,874 for 47562 and collects $3,173.

Like pain management. Even though most pain procedures fall into Medicare Payment Group 1 ($333), many involve bilateral injections and/or multiple levels, meaning each procedure can yield two to three facility fees. Medicare currently pays 100 percent of the highest payment for multiple procedures in a single session and 50 percent for each additional procedure.

We have to hand it to Sharon Bowen, CASC, the administrator of the ENT Surgical Center in Savannah, Ga. Ms. Bowen was one of the few who answered both our salary survey ($67,500, including a $7,000 bonus, in 2004) and our profitable procedures survey (she spilled the beans on tympanostomy, so blame her when it gets cut).

Kidding aside, we understand why our ASC readers get defensive when we ask them about being profitable. Making a profit is something they're resented, vilified and under attack for. It's also what they're so good at.