The Sunshine Act and Surgeons: A Nation-Wide Analysis of Industry Payments to Physicians

The Physician Payments Sunshine Act mandates the submission of payment records between medical providers and industry. We used the Open Payments Program database to compare industry payments to surgeons and nonsurgeons, as well as among surgical specialties, and to identify geographic distribution o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of surgical research 2019-01, Vol.233, p.41-49
Main Authors: Garstka, Meghan E., Monlezun, Dominique, DuCoin, Christopher, Killackey, Mary, Kandil, Emad
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Conflicts of interest
Industry payments
Physician disclosures
Sunshine act
Surgeon payments
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Summary:The Physician Payments Sunshine Act mandates the submission of payment records between medical providers and industry. We used the Open Payments Program database to compare industry payments to surgeons and nonsurgeons, as well as among surgical specialties, and to identify geographic distribution of payments. We included all reported industry payments in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Open Payments Program in the United States, 2014-2015. Multivariable regression fixed effects panel analysis of total payments was conducted among surgeons, adjusting for surgeon specialty, payor type, payment category, and state. A geographic heat map was created. Of 2,097,150 subjects meeting criteria, 1,957,528 (45.66%) were physicians. The mean standard deviation (SD) payment overall was $232.64 ($6262.00), and the state with the highest mean (SD) payment was Vermont at $2691.61 ($11,508.40). Surgeons numbered 153,916 (7.86%). The specialty with the highest mean (SD) payment was orthopedic surgery at $2811.50 ($33,632.71, P 
ISSN:0022-4804
1095-8673
DOI:10.1016/j.jss.2018.07.004