Physician Sunshine Act: Opening the Windows on Physician Financial Involvement with Medical Product Manufacturers

Physicians have long played an important role in the development and use of medical devices and new pharmaceuticals.  For many years the financial role that physicians had with medical manufacturers was kept behind the scenes.  However, in 2010, as part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Physician Payments Sunshine Act (“Sunshine Act”) was enacted into law.  Under this provision of the ACA, medical product manufacturers became required to disclose to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) any payments or other transfers of value made to physicians or teaching hospitals.  The Sunshine Act also requires certain manufacturers and group purchasing organizations (GPOs) to disclose any physician ownership or investment interests held in those companies.  The data collected by CMS will be published annually in a publicly-searchable database.