The deadline for public comment on the Sunshine Act has past and there was no shortage of responses from industry and the medical community. Over 100 organizations asked CMS to scrap the current dispute resolution process and many providers and industry thought leaders believe that transaction disclosures will mislead the public resulting in limited medical research and innovation.
These concerns are not ill founded as a long as the nature and value of these relationships are not well understood. Public education will be essential but is complicated by press coverage that has focused on sensationalizing the topic; casting industry in an unfavorable light by implying that money paid to providers for services has influence on objective medical judgment.
As CMS pours through its collection of comments; it is safe to say that the controversy regarding the Sunshine Act is will continue. The pros and cons of the Sunshine Act will go on but it is important that both sides of this discussion keep a fair and balanced approach to the facts. Each of the current stakeholders has their own perspectives but articles that are bias and provide false and misleading information such as those that portray past industry tactics as current policy belie the truth. Depicting industry in this way casts a pall over the ethics at play with the current system undermining the value of these relationships. This kind of information speaks to the concerns of both the industry and providers who share the negative impact of false and misleading information on innovation and health outcomes.
Crafting the Sunshine Act “final” rules CMS would be wise to follow the medical dictum of “first do no harm, then do good” taking care not to jeopardize all the positive interactions between industry and the medical community. Shedding light on industry transactions with providers must not be done at the expense of public trust.
When this transaction data is eventually posted it will, if not done with care, leave open a broad interpretation for implied kickback. Patients, providers and the industry will depend on a fair and balanced approach to the facts. Without steps to educate the public, transaction postings will likely breed even deeper skepticism of the industry and provider paranoia when the overwhelming majority are ethical and result in improved patient health and outcomes.
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