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AOA evaluates final rule on physician payment ‘Sunshine Act’
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The American Optometric Association is comparing the recently released final rule on the National Physician Payment Transparency Program: Open Payments to a previously written association white paper, according to an AOA spokesperson.
The program, also known as the Sunshine Act, aims to increase transparency among physicians, drug and device manufacturers and health care providers, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in a press release.
The AOA’s Ethics and Values Committee wrote a white paper based on the proposed ruling and is in the process of comparing the final ruling with the committee’s original piece. The revised paper, once approved by legal counsel, will be disseminated in an official statement to the AOA membership, according to the association.
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 the 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 of this year, according to the release.
The final rule is available at: www.federalregister.gov/public-inspection.