Physician Payment Disclosure Has Had No 'Chilling Effect', Early Adopters Say
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
Device companies that have voluntarily begun to publicly post payments made to physicians have not noticed a chilling effect on physician-industry interactions as a result.
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Regulatory News In Brief
Medtronic physician payment disclosures: The company began posting information on payments to physicians on its website June 1, disclosing all payments exceeding an aggregate of $5,000 annually. The disclosures are in advance of deadlines set in the recently passed health care reform law, and ahead of Medtronic's original timetable calling for quarterly postings beginning in March 2011 (1"The Gray Sheet" March 2, 2009). "Voluntary disclosure will help the company prepare for the broader disclosure of physician payments," slated to begin in 2012, Medtronic said June 1. The firm's first quarterly posting to its 2physician registry covers payments made to about 225 physicians and entities. Medtronic is also adopting new policies and procedures for physician collaboration, including a needs-assessment process to document the precise business need for the physician services; limits on the involvement of and payments to royalty-earning physicians in clinical studies; and a services agreement to document, in advance, the services to be provided by physicians and the fair-market value payment to be made for the services, the firm announced
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