Study Identifies Medical Specialties Receiving Highest Payments from Manufacturers
The Physician Payments Sunshine Act, passed under the Affordable Care Act, requires all pharmaceutical and medical device companies to report payments to physicians, including consulting fees, gifts, speaking fees, meals, travel and research grants. This information is searchable to the public on a database called Open Payments, managed by the Centers for Medicare & Medical Services (CMS). A recent study by researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine analyzed this database and compared payments among different specialties and identified which ones topped the list.