With just one week left before the launch of the controversial Open Payments database – which will reveal how much money doctors receive from drug and device makers – three of the biggest industry trade groups are complaining they have not had an opportunity to review important background information about relationships with physicians.
And the trade groups – the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, BIO and AdvaMed – are reiterating concerns expressed last month that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has still not explained why one-third of the payment information submitted by drug and device makers, as well as group purchasing organizations, was removed from the database.
“It is not clear why this volume of data is being withheld,” the trade groups wrote in their Sept. 22 letter to CMS administrator Marilyn Tavenner. “We are hopeful that this issue can be resolved expeditiously so that the data that is made available to the public is accurate, useful and complete.”
The database, which will be launched on Sept. 30, was created under the Sunshine Act provision of the Affordable Care Act and aims to mitigate concerns that industry payments to doctors may unduly influence medical practice and research. Initially, the database will display payments made in the last five months of 2013 and will be updated going forward.
But the run-up to the launch has been fraught with complaints from frustrated industry groups and physicians, as well as technical glitches that have embarrassed CMS. The September 22 letter to CMS, in fact, is only the latest missive sent to the agency to bellyache about the way the agency has handled the launch.
Two months ago, for instance, more than 20 medical societies and pharma and bio trade groups asked CMS to explain the context that will be provided to help the public understand the justification for payments, such as speaking fees and grants used to fund clinical research. The latest letter was sent in hopes the agency will accede to the request before the launch.
Separately, the American Medical Association and dozens of other medical societies pressed CMS for additional time to allow doctors to register and review payment data for what they called inaccurate, misleading and false information that may be posted to the database. The groups wanted CMS to postpone the launch for six months, but the agency only granted an extra 12 days to review data.
And earlier this month, 64 health advocacy groups asked CMS to exclude from the database indirect payments they make to doctors. The groups receive donations from drug and device makers and, in turn, pool and distribute the funds directly to physicians or to research institutions. The groups argue that sorting out these so-called third-party payments would cause administrative burdens.
As for the latest complaint, a CMS spokesman writes us that the agency has not responded to the latest letter from the trade groups and does not have a comment at this time. “Remember, that we are less than a week out [from the launch], so you can imagine that our single focus has been on meeting the mark” for September 30.
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Photo courtesy of: iStock.com
Originally published on: The Wall Street Journal
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