Physician Payment Sunshine: Minnesota to Require Reporting for 2014 Payments to Allied Health Professionals

At CBI’s 7^th Annual Sunshine & Aggregate Spend Conference on August 20, 2013, Executive Director of the Minnesota Board of Pharmacy, Cody Wiberg, Pharm.D., M.S., R.Ph., presented: “Minnesota’s Modified Reporting Requirements – Clarifications and Additional Reporting in Light of Preemption”. We previously discussed the Conference here, noting its focus on the Open Payments Program, state laws, and expanding global requirements. The Conference has been meeting since 2007 and we covered the 2012 event here.

Wiberg’s presentation focused on four areas: (1) Describing the history of aggregate spend reporting and gift limitations in Minnesota; (2) Understanding the recent change in Minnesota Statutes concerning aggregate spend reporting; (3) Understanding how the recent statute changes will be implemented; (4) Understand the Board’s application of the gift limitations.

After a discussion of Minnesota state statutes and the state’s legislative history, Wiberg outlined several key points about Minnesota’s limitations. Noted points include:

• A gift would include any money, real or personal property, a service, a loan, a forbearance or forgiveness of indebtedness, or a promise of future employment, that is given and received without the giver receiving consideration of equal or greater value in return.
  
• Meals may be gifts
  
• Textbooks, journal subscriptions, etc. may be gifts
  
• Payments to practitioners for attending educational conferences would be gifts
  
• Gifts do not have to be reported to the board
  
• Payment for completing marketing surveys – gifts; payments made to third party marketing research firms – maybe are not gifts
  

On the topic of payment reporting, Wiberg highlighted the following key points:

• Manufacturers need to submit the required reports. Entities licensed only as wholesalers do not.
  
• Payments made to sponsors of a medical conference, professional meeting, or other educational program do not have to be reported
  
• Payments to physicians no longer have to be reported.
  
  • As defined in federal law – physicians, dentists, optometrists and podiatrists
    
• Payments to other practitioners will likely have to be reported
  
  • nurse practitioners, physician assistants and dental therapists
    
• The Board will NOT require reporting of 2012 and 2013 data
  
• Manufacturers should be prepared to collect data for calendar year 2014