CMS releases Physician Sunshine Act final rule

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced a final rule that will increase public awareness of financial relationships between drug and device manufacturers and certain health care providers. Called the "National Physician Payment Transparency Program: Open Payments,” this is one of many steps in the Affordable Care Act designed to create greater transparency in the health care market.

This rule codifies provisions that require manufacturers of drugs, devices, biological, and medical supplies covered by Medicare, Medicaid, or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to report payments or other transfers of value they make to physicians and teaching hospitals to CMS. CMS will post that data to a public website. The final rule also requires manufacturers and group purchasing organizations (GPOs) to disclose to CMS physician ownership or investment interests.

AttendingPreventive Medicine 2013in Phoenix? We invite you to attend thePartners for Healthy Dialoguesbreakfast, co-hosted by ACPM & PhRMA. ACPM Committee on Ethics ChairJames Tacci, MD, MPH, FACPMand Executive DirectorMichael Barry, along with PhRMA representatives, will present on the topic and answer questions regarding this ruling.