MedPAC Approves Physician Financial Relationship Disclosure Recommendations

On November 6, 2008, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) met and approved 5 recommendations related to the public reporting of physician financial relationships.

The 5 recommendations are outlined in a recently released MedPAC document.  According to the document, MedPAC will recommend that Congress:

• Require all manufacturers and distributors of drugs, biologicals, medical devices, and medical supplies (and their subsidiaries) to report to the Secretary their financial relationships with:

• Physicians, physician groups, and other prescribers;
• Pharmacies and pharmacists;
• Health plans, pharmacy benefit managers, and their employees;
• Hospitals and medical schools;
• Organizations that sponsor continuing medical education;
• Patient organizations; and
• Professional organizations.

• Direct the Secretary to post the information submitted by manufacturers on a public website in a format that is searchable by:

• Manufacturer;
• Recipient's name, location and specialty (if applicable);
• Type of payment;
• Name of the related drug or device (if applicable); and
• Year.

• Require manufacturers and distributors of drugs to report to the Secretary the following information about drug samples:

• Each recipient's name and business address;
• The name, dosage, and number of units of each sample; and
• The date of distribution.

MedPAC also recommends that the Secretary make this information available through data use agreements.

• Require all hospitals and other entities that bill Medicare for services to annually report the ownership shares of each physician who directly or indirectly owns an interest in the entity (excluding publicly traded corporations).  MedPAC recommends that the Secretary post this information on a searchable public website.

• Require the Secretary to submit a report, based on the Disclosure of Financial Relationships Report, of the types and prevalence of financial arrangements between hospitals and physicians.

MedPAC is an independent Federal body established by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 to advise Congress on issues affecting the Medicare program.  MedPAC expects for the 5 recommendations to be part of a March 2009 report to Congress.  MedPAC has posted a presentation related to the public reporting of physician financial relationships and a copy of the transcript from MedPAC's November 6-7, 2008 meeting on the MedPAC website.