New Report: Industry and Physician Interaction Considered Acceptable by Many Patients

In this contentious election year, favorable coverage of the pharmaceutical industry is, for some reason, hard to come by. However, Wayne Pines, the President of Healthcare at APCO Worldwide and former Associate Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, recently authored a post at The Hill, where he acknowledged how “unfortunate” it is that the industry has been the target of much negative publicity. He further acknowledges that those “who have worked with the pharmaceutical and medical device industries for many years recognize that medical advances since World War II, continuing to this day, have extended lifespan and enhanced the quality of lives for hundreds of millions of people.”

As many of our readers know, the Physicians Payment Sunshine Act was the result of industry critics who felt that industry relationships with healthcare providers are reprehensible and that disclosure of payment information would curtail their interactions with industry. When the law was enacted, it was not clear how the information would be accessed, nor how patients would be able to find it.

APCO Insight recently polled Americans in an attempt to learn whether the data was useful to them and whether it has actually changed their relationships with their physicians. The study, Return on Reputation, has provided insights into how stakeholders view medical products companies.

Report Results

The majority of both Opinion Leaders and Policy Leaders indicated that they were either very or somewhat interested in knowing how much money their healthcare providers receive from companies (90%/86%), but fewer were likely to check online information to see if their own doctor was receiving payments (85%/75%). Unsurprisingly, even fewer were likely to ask their doctor directly about their payments (66% of Opinion Leaders and 42% of Policy Leaders).

Further, while the majority of patients want to know how much industry spends on healthcare providers, few patients are so “angry” with industries that they take any action. Patients are more likely to be okay with industry and healthcare provider interaction when it leads to benefits, such as discussing a medical advance or new research.

A majority of respondents were okay with healthcare providers receiving payments/items of value if they are receiving those financial benefits in connection when: communicating with other medical professionals to share experiences and learn about best practices; conducting research studies or clinical trials to develop new medicines or medical devices; continuing physician education by receiving educational materials, such as textbooks, journal reprints, or patient demonstration kits; consulting with companies on specific projects that require specialized medical expertise; or speaking at events as a medical expert on a specialized health topic.

Analysis

The report has shown that there is no indication that public disclosure has changed how patients relate to their healthcare providers, or how they view the pharmaceutical or medical device industries. The report also shows that patients actually may look favorably upon doctors who receive financial benefits from the pharmaceutical industry, provided they are received through education and interaction with industry and other providers, a position we have long held.

The pharmaceutical industry is unfortunately a large target, and will continue to remain the target of politicians. It is incumbent upon the industry to work to educate the public and other stakeholders about their contributions to healthcare and how collaboration with healthcare providers actually benefits patients, not hurts them.