Allopathic and osteopathic physicians received 2.43 million payments totaling $475 million in the last five months of 2013, according to a study published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings that examined the Physician Payments Sunshine Act.
Finalized in 2013, the Physician Payments Sunshine Act requires medical product manufacturers to report payments made to physicians or teaching hospitals as well as ownership or investment interests physicians hold in their company. The Mayo Clinic Proceedings study analyzed physician payments made between August 1, 2013, and December 31, 2013, that CMS' Open Payments database publicly disclosed.
Here are four insights:
1. General payments represented 90 percent of total payments, while research payments made up the remaining 10 percent.
2. Cardiovascular specialists (78 percent) were most likely to receive general payments, whereas neurosurgeons (77 percent) were next in line.
3. Pathologists (9 percent) were least likely to receive general payments.
4. Internal medicine physicians and orthopedic surgeons received the highest total value of payments at $111 million for each specialty, according to a News-Medical report analyzing the study.