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Young, P., Xie, D., Schmidt, H. (2018). Towards Patient-Centered Conflicts of Interest Policy. International Journal of Health Policy and Management, 7(2), 112-119. doi: 10.15171/ijhpm.2017.128
Peter D. Young; Dawei Xie; Harald Schmidt. "Towards Patient-Centered Conflicts of Interest Policy". International Journal of Health Policy and Management, 7, 2, 2018, 112-119. doi: 10.15171/ijhpm.2017.128
Young, P., Xie, D., Schmidt, H. (2018). 'Towards Patient-Centered Conflicts of Interest Policy', International Journal of Health Policy and Management, 7(2), pp. 112-119. doi: 10.15171/ijhpm.2017.128
Young, P., Xie, D., Schmidt, H. Towards Patient-Centered Conflicts of Interest Policy. International Journal of Health Policy and Management, 2018; 7(2): 112-119. doi: 10.15171/ijhpm.2017.128

Towards Patient-Centered Conflicts of Interest Policy

Article 3, Volume 7, Issue 2, February 2018, Page 112-119  XML PDF (496 K)
Document Type: Short Communication
DOI: 10.15171/ijhpm.2017.128
Authors
Peter D. Young 1; Dawei Xie2; Harald Schmidt3, 4
1Berman Institute of Bioethics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
2Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
3Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
4Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Abstract
Financial conflicts of interest exist between industry and physicians, and these relationships have the power to influence physicians’ medical practice. Transparency about conflicts matters for ensuring adequate informed consent, controlling healthcare expenditure, and encouraging physicians’ reflection on professionalism. The US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) launched the Open Payments Program (OPP) to publicly disclose and bring transparency to the relationships between industry and physicians in the United States. We set out to explore user awareness of the database and the ease of accessibility to disclosed information, however, as we show, both awareness and actual use are very low. Two practical policies can greatly enhance its intended function and help alleviate ethical tension. The first is to provide data for individual physicians not merely in absolute terms, but in meaningful context, that is, in relation to the zip code, city, and state averages. The second increases access to the OPP dataset by adding hyperlinks from physicians’ professional websites directly to their Open Payments disclosure pages. These changes considerably improve transparency and the utility of available data, and can furthermore enhance professionalism and accountability by encouraging physicians to reflect more actively on their own practices.
Keywords
Conflict of Interest; Physician-Industry Relationships; Informed Consent; Physician Payments Sunshine Act; Open Payments Program (OPP)
Main Subjects
Health System Reform
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