Dive Brief:
- Manufacturers of drugs, biological and medical devices paid $7.52 billion to physicians and teaching hospitals for research, education, and food in 2015, according to a new government report.
- The disclosures, by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, cover 11.9 million records from 618,931 doctors and 1,116 teaching hospitals.
- This is the second full year of reporting under the Open Payments system, which aims to increase transparency around healthcare manufacturers and the providers who use and prescribe their products.
Dive Insight:
Created by the Affordable Care Act, the Open Payment disclosures are shedding light on the intricate relationships between the healthcare industry and providers and experts.
Of the $7.52 billion reported, $2.6 billion went to general, nonresearch activities, $3.89 billion was for research and $1.03 billion was tied up in ownership or investment interests of physicians or their immediate family members.
A total of 1,456 companies made payments that were reported to CMS.
While applauding the goal of increased transparency, the American Medical Association chided CMS for “continued data errors and registration challenges” that kept many physicians from taking part in the review and validation process.
“Patients deserve to have access to accurate information,” the AMA said in a statement. “Publishing inaccurate data leads to misinterpretations, harms reputations and undermines the trust that patients have in their physicians. It can also discourage research and care delivery improvements that benefit patients.”
Since 2014, CMS has published 28.22 million records, representing $16.77 billion in payments and investment interests.