Dive Brief:
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A new JAMA study found that physicians received $2.4 billion in industry-related payments in 2015, mostly through general payments for consulting or food and beverage. Surgeons received a “higher value of payments” than primary care specialists, as did male physicians compared to female physicians.
- Researchers looked into the 2015 Open Payments reports for 933,295 allopathic and osteopathic physicians in the U.S. across specialties.
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Of all U.S. primary care physicians, 48% (30% of women) received industry payments, while 61% of surgeons reported receiving payments. Surgeons’ average per-physician reported “payment value” was $6,879 compared to $2,227 for primary care physicians.
Dive Insight:
The authors wrote many in healthcare don’t recognize this “subconscious bias,” but there is tension between the industry’s financial relationships and its primary mission.
The question is: Do these funds influence a physician’s decision-making? The study authors said “considerable data” point to the fact that financial conflicts of interest are affecting physicians’ decisions.
Conflict of interest concerns are nothing new in healthcare and go well beyond physician relationships and stretch to the insurance industry and regulators. For example, a JAMA study in 2016 found that pharmaceutical industry-sponsored meals led to “an increased rate of prescribing the brand-name medication that was being promoted.” The authors in that study point to an “association” rather than a “cause-and-effect relationship.”
While not a payment, company representatives and "subconscious biases" can present themselves in a variety of means. Another example: medical device sales representatives go to great lengths to get their devices into training programs so when a physician needs to perform a procedure, they may only want to work with tools and devices they trained on. It may be unconscious but the decision definitely has an impact on care delivery.
The latest JAMA study adds another example of industry payment concerns. As focus continues to revolve around healthcare reform and payment models, conflict of interest concerns may not get much interest from the greater public. However, regulators and the industry will need to keep watch to make sure health decisions are not being affected by money.