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Federal Website Sheds Light on Manufacturers' Payments to Doctors

A new federal website reveals that Maine doctors received more than $4 million from drug and medical device manufacturers. It's called "Open Payments," and was created as part of the Affordable Care Act. Physician groups and health advocates alike say the new service is helpful, but doesn't offer enough information about the reasons for those payments.

 

The reviews are just starting to come. Emily Brostek says Open Payments is a good first step, but "it's very overwhelming for a consumer to look through."

Brostek, executive director of Consumers for Affordable Health Care, says the site does shed some light on the money doctors receive in the way of consulting fees, research grants, travel and meals, but it's hard to use.

Gordon Smith, the executive vice president of the Maine Medical Association, says once he heard the Open Payments website was up on Tuesday, he eagerly opened his laptop to check it out. But what he found left him feeling a bit adrift in a sea of information.

"I tried to look at as much of the material as I could find, and it's really raw data," he says. "And there is no context."

Open Payments is supposed to list payments physicians receive for an entire calendar year, but this first batch only gives information on the last five months of 2013, and some specific details are missing. In Maine, there are almost 4,000 payments listed that range anywhere from 1 cent to nearly $320,000.

The website says where each payment is from, who received it, and categorizes it as "cash or cash equivalent," or "in-kind item or service." The problem, says Smith, is that's not enough context to know whether these payments are good or bad. He points out the highest payments in Maine are associated with research.

"If they're people doing a lot of clinical trials, I don't have any concern about it," Smith says.

Nancy Morris, of the Maine Health Management Coalition, says a $50 dinner between a pharmaceutical rep and a physician could actually turn out to be a great exchange of information that's helpful to patients. And she says consumers really want some basic information about the people who treat them.

"You know, really what they want to know is the quality, are they reasonably priced?" Morris says. "And what are other patients' experiences?"

Consumer advocate Emily Brostek says the best thing a patient can do, is to ask questions about their doctor's policy on accepting gifts. "Because we know that when pharmaceutical companies make gifts to doctors, they do this because it helps their bottom line and influences prescribing behavior," Brostek says. "So it's something we want to be aware of."

Despite Open Payments' current shortcomings, Gordon Smith of the Maine Medical Association says it will likely influence physician behavior for the better.  He points out that doctors have already changed practices in the last decade, driven by new ethical codes aimed at preventing past financial abuses.