This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
AdvaMed releases new ethics guidelines on physician-industry relationships
New ethics guidelines will change the way physicians and other health care providers interact with industry in the future, and they should help build greater transparency in the process.
Facing congressional oversight and public backlash over physician-industry relationships, several groups representing pharmaceutical and device manufacturers and manufacturers of diagnostic products have adopted elective guidelines to manage interactions with physicians.
The Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) announced in mid-December a "major update of its Code of Ethics on Interactions with Health Care Professionals," according to a press release. The updates should help clarify what is appropriate or inappropriate when a member organization is dealing with physicians and health care professionals.
Among the revisions to the code of ethics are guidance to AdvaMed members for entering into consulting relationships only when the relationship will improve medical technologies; a ban on providing entertainment or non-educational gifts; guidelines on what are appropriate educational or demonstration products; as well as a section "addressing the provision of objective reimbursement, coverage and health economics information to [health care providers] in order to improve patient access to care," the release said.
AdvaMed plans to publicly list companies on its Web site that adopt the code, furthering its intention to build transparent relationships between industry and health care providers.
"This updated and more rigorous Code of Ethics reflects the medical technology industry's ongoing commitment to openness, transparency and high ethical standards," said Michael A. Mussallem, chairman and CEO of Edwards Lifesciences and chairman of AdvaMed.