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. 2020 Jan 3:5:1.
doi: 10.1186/s41073-019-0087-1. eCollection 2020.

Impact of US industry payment disclosure laws on payments to surgeons: a natural experiment

Taeho Greg Rhee  1   2   3   4 , Tijana Stanic  5 , Joseph S Ross  4   6   7
Affiliations

Impact of US industry payment disclosure laws on payments to surgeons: a natural experiment

Taeho Greg Rhee et al. Res Integr Peer Rev. .

Abstract

Objectives: To compare changes in the number and amount of payments received by orthopedic and non-orthopedic surgeons from industry between 2014 and 2017.

Methods: Using the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Open Payment database from 2014 to 2017, we conducted a retrospective cohort study of industry payments to surgeons, including general payments and research payments.

Results: Among orthopedic surgeons, the total number of general payments decreased from 248,698 in 2014 to 241,966 in 2017, but their total value increased from $97.1 million in 2014 to $110.2 million in 2017. Among non-orthopedic surgeons, the total number decreased from 604,884 in 2014 to 582,490 in 2017, while the total value remained stable at approximately $159 million. Between 2014 and 2017, there was a differential increase in the median number of general payments received by non-orthopedic when compared to orthopedic surgeons (incidence rate ratio, 1.09; 95% CI, 1.08-1.09; p < 0.001), but a differential decline in the median value of general payments (- 8.9%; 95% CI, - 9.5%, - 8.4%; p < 0.001). Findings were consistent when stratified by nature of payment. In contrast, between 2014 and 2017, there was neither a differential change in the median number nor median value of research payments received by non-orthopedics.

Conclusion: Examination of a natural experiment of prior public disclosure of payments to orthopedic surgeons suggests that the Physician Payment Sunshine Act was associated with an increase in the number, but a decline in the value, of general payments received by non-orthopedic surgeons, but not on research payments received.

Keywords: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; Open payment; Orthopedic; Pharmaceutical; Physician Payment Sunshine Act.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interestsRhee reported no competing interests relevant to this article. Stanic completed an intership through AbbVie from May to August, 2017. In the past 36 months, Ross has received research support through Yale University from Johnson and Johnson to develop methods of clinical trial data sharing, from Medtronic, Inc. and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to develop methods for post-market surveillance of medical devices (U01FD004585), from the Food and Drug Administration to establish Yale-Mayo Clinic Center for Excellence in Regulatory Science and Innovation (CERSI) program (U01FD005938), from the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association to better understand medical technology evaluation, from the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to develop and maintain performance measures that are used for public reporting (HHSM-500-2013-13018I), from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (R01HS022882), from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (R01HS025164), and from the Laura and John Arnold Foundation to establish the Good Pharma Scorecard at Bioethics International and the Collaboration for Research Integrity and Transparency (CRIT) at Yale.

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