Recently we wrote about statements made by AAFP’s President Ted Epperly, MD concerning the Physician Payment Sunshine Act of 2009. For our posting we quoted directly from an article published in AAFP News Now. Unfortunately, as it is often difficult to convey the right sentiment when quoted by a reporter.
So in an effort to clarify his position, Doctor Epperly asked me to publish this statement:
Communication is key to high quality health care, and family physicians have for consistently advocated for transparency not only in the physician-patient relationship, but also in interactions between physicians and other members of the health care community.
Nowhere is this transparency more important than in the dealings between physicians and the manufacturers of pharmaceuticals, medical supplies and devices, and biologicals that form the foundation of many patients’ treatment plans.
The American Academy of Family Physicians and I personally hold the tenet of transparency to be among the most important elements of professionalism. That’s why I was somewhat surprised by the response to my recent comments about the Physician Payment Sunshine Act of 2009, a bill that requires manufacturers to disclose gifts, financial agreements and other dealings they have with physicians.
T
he intent of my comments was to emphasize the need for legislation that provides for reasonable reporting on physicians, allows recourse if mistakes were made in that reporting, and ensures that physicians would not have yet another law demanding unnecessary or redundant administrative paperwork. The AAFP continues to study the bill and will be following its progress through the legislative process.
The AAFP is not disparaging the Sunshine Act and we are not taking the industry side on this. We are looking for transparency legislation that
· Minimizes the administrative burden that reporting requirements would place on physicians;
· Enables the physician to correct incorrect reporting data before the companies releases it for publication; and
· Ensures the reporting requirements do not have a chilling effect on efforts to educate physicians about research and new developments in diagnosis and treatment.
Such provisions will improve an already important legislative effort.
The AAFP holds a reasonable position on this issue. Though, I am not sure there is an “Industry Side” to this issue.
There were many organizations including industry, and medical societies that lined up last year in favor of a reasonable Physician Payment Sunshine Act. I am sure that it took months to adjust the language so that most parties involved were on board.
The abandonment of that agreed on language by Senators Grassley and Kohl has caused many stakeholders wondering what had happened, the AAFP among them.
Doctor Epperly understands that there is mutual benefit for patient care that are achieved through relationships with industry and the passage of a reasonable Physician Payment Sunshine Act. The two are not mutually exclusive.