Absolutely!
ObamaCare has caused drug companies to significantly decrease the payments made to physicians for promoting their drugs.
ObamaCare requires the disclosures of any payments made to physicians to the public. The Physician Payments Sunshine Act requires drug companies to report certain payments to physicians and teaching hospitals. This reporting started in August 2013.
From this information, regulators, academic institutions and the public are scrutinizing how much is being paid to physicians for speaking on behalf of certain drugs. For example, Eli Lilly cut payments in 2011 from $48 million to $21 million. Novartis decreased their payments from $24.8 to $14.8 million.
In order to protect your practice, you should:
1) Written Approval: Have a policy that before anyone in the practice can agree to a paid speaking engagement on behalf of a drug company, they seek written approval from the practice. This ensures that everyone knows what fees are being taken.
2) Keep Track: Keep a separate list of what fees are being received from each company.
3) Look Yourself up: You should know what is listed under the doctor’s name for payments from drug companies. Article
If your organization needs assistance complying with the Sunshine Act – we can help. For assistance CLICK HERE.
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