New York Healthcare Law Blog

In a move to ensure greater transparency and accountability, the new healthcare reform law includes a provision aimed at curbing the influence of the pharmaceutical and device-making industries on physicians' decision-making.  Starting in 2013, manufacturers of drugs, devices, biologicals or supplies will be required to report to the Department of Health and Human Services all  food, entertainment, gift, consulting fees, honoraria and the like to physicians and teaching hospitals.  Staring September 30, 2013, this information will be listed on a publicly accessible website.

Pay or gifts of less than $10 need not be disclosed so long as the aggregate annual value does not exceed $100.  Importantly, product samples intended for patient use are exempt from disclosure.   Physicians and hospitals will have an opportunity to review and correct information before it is reported, so that it does not mislead patients.

Undeniably, this new provision will scare some physicians away from accepting gifts from the drug and device industry.  This may be the biggest impact of the new requirement.  Perhaps the intent of this new requirement is, in part, to allow the media to pick up on unusual patterns in gift-making to then embarrass receiving physicians and hospitals by implying that their independent decision-making was compromised.  However, American Medical News reports that several surveys have shown that patients largely do not care about physicians receiving gifts from the "Big Pharma."  We believe that the existence of the publicly searchable database will have only a negligible effect on the patients' choice of physicians and hospitals.