It seems that continuing medical education (CME) will be exempt from the reporting requirement of PPACA, which speci- fies that the term“payment or other transfer of value” does not include transfers of value that are made from a manufacturer to a physician by way ofa third party (such as a CME provider), as long as the manufacturer is unaware ofthe identity ofthe cov- ered recipient. According to Murray Kopelow, M.D., chiefexecutive ofthe
Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), ACCME was in communication with the authors ofthis portion of the law when it was being written, specifically to ensure that CME wouldn’t be negatively affected by it. Kopelow said he didn’t believe that these reporting requirements would prove any trouble for CME providers.
continued from page 45
Family Physicians (AAFP), “we haven’t had anybody ask us about this or ask us to do something for them or in any way help with this—at least to this point.” Pellet, whose organization has 97,000 members, also
MEDICAL MEETINGS
wonders about the cost/benefit implications ofthe Sun- shine provision. (Pellet was sharing hisownpersonal opinion; at press time, AAFP’s leadershipwas still considering its official posi- tion on this matter.) “How many of [our exhibitors] will really …ask for that information?” Pellet said. “And when they do, how much will they really ask for? So for us to go out and make a blanket request from all of our members to collect this data, the question is, is it really cost-efficient for us or is it worthwhile to do that?We just don’t know.” Pellet added: “I wonder if they will [have to be doing this reporting].” He noted that, in the wake ofrecent revisions to the PhRMAandAdvaMedcodes—not to mentionthe introduction of even more stringent no-gift laws in some states—most com- panies don’t give out anything to doctors during medical shows. So on this issue, PPACA might be moot. Kracov agreed—to a point.“Companies are going tovery carefully scrutinize their pay-
PUSHBACK:Wanda Johnson, CMP, CAE, sen- ior director of meetings and education for the Endocrine Society, antic- ipates that physician attendees will question why her organization is asking for their NPI numbers.
In addition to CME, the following categories are also
exempt: A transfer ofanything the value ofwhich is less than $10, unless the aggregate amount…during the calendar year exceeds $100 Product samples Educational materials The loan of a device for a short-term trial period, not to exceed 90 days Items or services provided under a contractual warranty A transfer ofanything ofvalue to a covered recipient when the covered recipient is a patient Discounts (including rebates) In-kind items used for the provision of charity care.
ments to physicians,” he said. “There are already a lot ofrestrictions. I think it’s going to have somewhat ofa chilling effect on payments to physicians generally.” To help find out whether exhibitors will be asking
for help fromshow organizers to collect this data, and to what degree, Convene reached out to two major
pharmaceutical companies—Novartis and Lilly. Representa- tives fromNovartis declined to comment,whileLillyUSADirec- tor of Communications J. Scott MacGregor provided this statement: “Later this year, Lilly will be disclosing, in an online registry, payments and non-cash forms of value we provide to U.S.-based physicians.(We currently disclose payments for com- mercial speaking, advising, and consulting services to contracted speakers.) These plans are part ofLilly’s commitment to the U.S. government in a corporate integrity agreement.” Many point to corporate integrity agreements—usually imposed by HHS’s Office of Inspector General as part ofa civil settlement—as a model for how the Sunshine provision might work in practice. MacGregor continued: “To meet our reporting obligations,
Lilly ismanaging our ownmanual processes to collect the neces- sary data from physicians who attend our programs at medical meetingsandcongresses. Long-term, the technology usedbysome conference and convention organizers (such as badge-scanning technologies) could be a useful solution across the industry, as all companies will be required to report similar data in the future. It’s not yetknownhowthe newlawwillimpact exhibits andother large-group activities at congresses. There are many outstanding questions, and we believe convention organizers should work together with thepharmaceutical industry to determine solutions.” To that end, HCEA is forming a task force “to examine the
issue, explore best practices, and maintain a dialogue between all industry participants that will be affected by this issue.” That exploratory impulse was an overarching theme that emerged in talking to industry sources about this issue. The importance of education was another—for planners, exhibitors, association leaders, and attendees alike. “Ifplanners are not aware ofthis, they need to understand that industry—one oftheir customers, frankly—is going to be coming to them for help,”Turenne said. “And they need to be prepared for that discussion.”