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CMS issues final rule on Physician Payment Sunshine Act
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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently announced its final rule on the National Physician Payment Transparency Program: Open Payments, also known as the Sunshine Act, aimed to increase transparency among physicians, drug and device manufacturers, and health care providers.
As part of the Affordable Care Act, the rule calls for manufacturers of drugs, devices, biologics and medical supplies reimbursed by Medicare, Medicaid or Children’s Health Insurance Program to disclose payments made to doctors and teaching hospitals to CMS. According to a press release, these manufacturers and group purchasing organizations must also report physician ownership and investments in these enterprises. This data will be publicly available on a CMS website by Sept. 30, 2014, and entities required to report information under the rule will be able to review and correct reported data before it is released to the public. Collection of this information will begin Aug. 1, according to the release.
“You should know when your doctor has a financial relationship with the companies that manufacture or supply the medicines or medical devices you may need,” Peter Budetti, MD, CMS deputy administrator for Program Integrity, said in the press release. “Disclosure of these relationships allows patients to have more informed discussions with their doctors.”
AMA President Jeremy Lazarus, MD, said that the AMA will carefully review the new rule.
“Physicians’ relationships with the pharmaceutical industry should be transparent and focused on benefits to patients,” Lazarus said in an AMA press release. “Our feedback during this rulemaking process was aimed at ensuring the new registry will provide a meaningful picture of physician-industry interactions and give physicians an easy way to correct any inaccuracies. As the rule is implemented, we will work to make sure physicians have up-to-date information about the new reporting process.”
Perspective
Back to TopMichael X. Repka, MD
The American Academy of Ophthalmology is in the process of reviewing the final rule released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services implementing the Sunshine Act. We are encouraged in our initial read to see that CMS adopted proposals from the Academy and other medical associations that will give physicians more time to dispute information before it is made available to the public.
Michael X. Repka
As a result of medicine's advocacy, physicians will have a total of 60 days to resolve any disputes. The Academy also was successful in convincing CMS to exclude funds used to support continuing medical education activities as long as they are provided free of any commercial interests.
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