R. Ahmed1, S. Bae2, E. Chow2, A. B. Massie2, J. Lopez2, C. Atallah2, D. L. Segev2 1Duke University Medical Center,Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery,Durham, NC, USA 2Johns Hopkins University School Of Medicine,General Surgery,Baltimore, MD, USA
Introduction: Under the Physician Payment Sunshine Act (PPSA), data were released publicly disclosing biomedical industry non-reasearch payments to physicians; enabling patients to be aware of potential financial conflicts-of-interests (COI). The objective of this study is to provide general surgeons a better understanding of the PPSA data.
Methods: Using the first wave of PPSA data (Aug-Dec, 2013), published December 2014, we describe the distribution of payments to all general surgeons (GS) and general surgical subspecialists (GSS), and compared it to gastroenterologists.
Results: There were total of 17,331 GSS (4.8% of all providers) who collectively received $27,015,046 (3.9% of all payments). GS received median (IQR) $100 (32-319) mean $1,199; compared to $94 ($29-$255) mean $1,900 among other providers. The largest payment to a surgeon was $253,468. The three major payment categories were speaker fees (18%), consulting (17%) and royalties (16%). Among GSS, 44.5% received payments <$100, 38.5% between ($100-<$1K), 14% between ($1K-<$10K), and 2.9% >= $10K. A total of 497 companies made payments to GSS ($9.33-$3,580,066) of which 10 comprised 54% of all payments. On average, cardiac surgeons were the highest paid GSS (ranksum, p<0.001). Gastroenterologists received higher payments than GS (ranksum, p<0.001).
Conclusion: This description of the PPSA showed that majority amount paid to GS and GSS comprised of consulting and speaker fees; 50% of GS received payments <$100. Payments to GS were lower than gastroenterologists. Although the PPSA data provides transparency to potential COI, its value is yet to be determined. Awareness of the PPSA, its data and implications are critical for all physicians.