by Ingrid A. Pelzer
In December 2011, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services published draft regulations that would implement the "Transparency Reports and Reporting of Physician Ownership or Investment Interests" section of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as the Sunshine Act.
Pursuant to the Sunshine Act, drug, device, biological product, and medical supply manufacturers must disclose annually certain information regarding payments and other transfers of value to physicians and teaching hospitals. An additional provision requires manufacturers and group purchasing organizations (GPOs) to disclose all ownership or investment interests held by physicians or members of their family.
The Sunshine Act requires manufacturers and GPOs to begin collecting data starting January 1, 2012. CMS recently indicated on its official blog, however, that it will not require data collection by applicable manufacturers or applicable GPOs before January 1, 2013.
CMS states that it intends to release the final rule implementing the Sunshine Act later this year, which will give CMS additional time to "address operational and implementation issues in a thoughtful manner," and "ensure the accuracy of the data that is collected."
To view CMS’ blog regarding implementation of the Sunshine Act, please click on the following link:
http://blog.cms.gov/2012/05/03/information-on-implementation-of-the-physician-payments-sunshine-act/.
