How the Physician Payment Sunshine Act Supports the Medical Manufacturers
The Physician Payment Sunshine Act is famous under the name "Sunshine Act". It is an inseparable part of the Affordable Care Act or ACA, which needs manufacturers of medical devices, medicines, and biologicals. It participates in the United States Federal Health Care programs in order to claim certain payments and products of value provided to doctors and teaching hospitals.
However, the manufacturers must submit their report to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, annually.
Additionally, manufacturers and GPOs need to claim ownership of the product from physicians and family members.
Therefore, they need to publish their report annually for the public so that it can be searchable. Initially, the data collection began in the year 2013, and the deadline for submission to CMS was 2014. This data is available to manufacturers and physicians for correction and review, and then it is published on a public website.
Why is Some Data Withheld Pending Verification?
Firstly, the medical data was live in 2014; however, the intention was to publish all the data by that date: September 30th, 2014. However, CMS stated that some of the data may still be pending verification.
They did not mention the reason behind it until several years later, in response to ongoing questions in response to its effect on physician-industry relationships, patient decision-making, and the conduct of clinical research and other dissemination results.
Among doctors and manufacturers
The economic relationship between medical manufacturers and physicians is very common. They receive everything from free meals to consulting and speaking about their research. They get funding for everything.
This relationship has many positive outcomes, especially in the context of consulting and research funding. These two are the key components of medical development in drugs and equipment.
However, these can also cause conflicts in some scenarios, such as promotional events, medical research, training, and practice.
2019 National Medical Survey
According to the 2009 nationwide survey, over 84% of physicians had financial interaction with manufacturers of medicines, devices, biologicals, and supplies. It also included meals offered in the workplace.
● 20% Reimbursement for Medical Meeting Attendance
Practitioners, doctors, and other medical professionals received nearly 20% reimbursements for attending meetings and giving lectures on medical education and 15% payments for professional services.
● Changes in the pharmaceutical industry and the increasing financial crisis
However, after some time, the medical industry faced a financial decrease due to the survey. Because of the changes, the pharmaceutical industry had to follow the deduction in salesforce staff and marketing strategies.
● Awareness of the bias in the physician-industry relationship
Another factor of this financial decrease is the growing awareness among professional researchers and policymakers that the physician-industry relationship and support act is biassed. And this impacts the decision-making, health care of patients, and clinical research.
In the past decade, several academic institutions, professional bodies, and medical experts have shown their conflict of interest in this research and tried their best to build transparency around the world in their research and medical education.
They are continuously increasing this transparency in order to reduce the negative consequences and unnecessary partnerships.

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