Policymakers Must Monitor Open Payment Website’s Impact on Healthcare Innovation, Patient Interests, HLC President Says
Data on Physician Payments without Proper Context Could Unfairly Stigmatize Essential Healthcare Collaborations, Medical Research Efforts
WASHINGTON – Members of Congress and Administration health policy leaders must closely monitor the operation and impact of the new federal website providing data on payments between healthcare manufacturers, physicians and teaching hospitals, the president of the Healthcare Leadership Council said today, to ensure that an incomplete display of information does not stigmatize physician-industry collaborations and undermine future healthcare innovation.
Mary R. Grealy said she shared the concerns expressed by other healthcare trade associations that the Open Payments website, scheduled to launch on September 30, will provide raw data on manufacturer payments to doctors and hospitals without providing vital context on the purpose of those transactions and their contributions to medical research, physician education, healthcare progress and patient safety.
The Healthcare Leadership Council is a coalition of chief executives from all sectors of healthcare. HLC led a multi-organizational effort, the National Dialogue for Healthcare Innovation, that focused on this issue and generated a consensus statement on transparency and research independence in physician-industry collaborations.
“It is important that we have transparency in these relationships, but it is also critical that we not create an aura of distrust around the collaborations that have led to so many of the most important medical innovations of the past half-century,” Ms. Grealy said. “If the information made available to the public involves dollar amounts without full context, it can lead to gotcha-style news stories and healthcare providers facing the presumption of ethical wrongdoing even when they have done nothing wrong and their work is benefiting patients.”
Ms. Grealy emphasized that the Open Payments website requires vigilant monitoring, first – remembering the difficulties with the Medicare physician payments website — to ensure that the information provided is complete and correct. Then, she said, federal policymakers should be in communication with physician societies, hospitals and manufacturers to determine if the Open Payments implementation is having a chilling effect on beneficial collaborations.
“In the end, it’s about what’s best for today’s and tomorrow’s patients. We can and must have transparency and a constantly improving and evolving healthcare system,” she said.
