May 7, 2020
Transparency about
industry-supported interactions among physicians was the goal of
the online Open Payments database created by the Centers for
Medicare & Medicaid Services. Dr. Vincent DeLeo talks to Dr. Allen
F. Shih about a
retrospective review of how accurately dermatologists presenting at a
major medical meeting disclosed industry conflicts of
interest, compared with
the OP database. They discuss possible reasons for data
discrepancies and provide tips for dermatologists to ensure their
COIs are disclosed appropriately. “I think it’s very important for
dermatologists to continue to review industry-reported interactions
listed on the online Open Payments database and to make sure it is
as accurate as possible,” recommends Dr. Shih.
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We also bring you the latest in dermatology news and
research:
Private equity:
Salvation or death sentence?
Depending on whom you ask, the continuing growth of private equity
purchases of dermatology practices is either a death sentence -- or
salvation -- of the specialty.
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Things you will learn in this episode:
- All
U.S. companies that produce or purchase drugs or devices that are
reimbursable by a government-run health care program are required
by the
Physician Payments Sunshine Act to announce all payments to
physicians using the online OP database: “Once a year, the
government gives the companies a particular time frame to establish
these payments. ... and list the physician, the amount, and the
type of payment that they are giving out,” Dr. Shih
explains.
- Speakers at meetings of the American Academy of
Dermatology must publicly disclose a full list of industry COIs in
the meeting program, including the company name and type of
interaction.
- A
comparison of industry interactions disclosed at the AAD 73rd
Annual Meeting in March 2015 vs. the 2014 OP database showed a
discrepancy between the two sets of data for about 30% of
dermatologists.
- The
most commonly reported industry relationships among dermatologists
were investigator, followed by consultant and advisory board
member. “Specifically, among these three roles, the form of
payments that dermatologists reported were, number one and number
two, honoraria and grants and research funding,” Dr. Shih
notes.
- Overall, 66% of interactions were accurately
and fully disclosed by dermatologists when the AAD and OP data were
compared. “It looks like [dermatologists] are in line with what
other specialists are seeing from other specialties,” Dr. Shih
said.
- Data
discrepancies could be industry-reporting inaccuracies, which are
not audited. “If you have a payment that you see, you can check it
online to make sure it’s not something that was entered under your
name erroneously, which has happened before,” Dr. Shih
advised.
- Dermatologists speaking at meetings may fail to
report industry payments they feel are outside the scope of their
presentation topic. “For example, a dermatologist who goes to AAD
to speak about psoriasis may not feel the need ... to disclose
items that may be related to a laser,” Dr. Shih
explained.
- Patients can search the Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services website for a list of all
interactions and type of payments received by any physician by
calendar year. “One of the reasons that Congress decided to include
Open Payments [in the Affordable Care Act] was to include the
transparency and objectivity ... so that patients and providers and
the general public alike would be able to find if there were
particular biases that physicians were having based on financial
interactions that were yet to be revealed,” Dr. Shih
explained.
- Every
year, CMS gives physicians a 45-day period to review reported
industry interactions for the previous calendar year. For 2019, the
review period started on April 1, 2020, and goes until May 15,
2020, during which time physicians can submit corrections to CMS if
an error is noted.
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Hosts: Nick
Andrews; Vincent
A. DeLeo, MD (Keck School of Medicine of the University of
Southern California, Los Angeles)
Guests:
Allen F. Shih, MD, MBA (Boston University)
Disclosures:
Dr. DeLeo is a consultant for Esteé Lauder. Dr. Shih reports no
conflict of interest.
Show notes by:
Alicia Sonners, Melissa Sears
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You can find more of our podcasts at http://www.mdedge.com/podcasts
Email the show: podcasts@mdedge.com
Interact with us on Twitter: @MDedgeDerm