AMA urges physicians to report conflicts of interest prior to Sunshine Act deadline

The Physician Payment Sunshine Act will require pharmaceutical and medical device companies to report on their interactions with physicians starting on Aug. 1, and the American Medical Association is urging physicians to report, update and correct their financial and conflict of interest disclosures.

“The Sunshine Act affects all physicians with a current medical license and the changes are starting now,” Ardis Hoven, MD, president of the American Medical Association (AMA) stated in a press release. “Physicians should know that pharmaceutical and medical device companies must begin tracking and reporting information on their interactions with physicians beginning Aug. 1, and this information will soon be published online by CMS.”

Starting Jan. 1, 2014, physicians can register with CMS to receive reports of the previous year. Physicians can also challenge inaccurate reports within 45 days of the information becoming public, and can continue to make corrections within a 2-year period, according to the release.

“We strongly urge physicians to make sure all of their financial and conflict of interest disclosures, as well as their information in the national provider identifier database, are current and regularly updated,” Hoven said. “We also urge physicians to ask industry representatives with whom they interact to provide an opportunity to review and, if necessary, correct all information they will report before it is submitted to the government.”

In the release, AMA said it has worked to influence changes to the Sunshine Act such as “reporting pharmaceutical funding of certified and accredited continuing medical education.”

The AMA has compiled a list of resources for physicians about the Sunshine Act on their website, which can be found here. CMS has also launched two apps for the Apple Store and Google Play Store to help physicians track payments and financial transfers reported by industry.

Reference: