The long-awaited Physician Payment Sunshine Act final rule has been issued, as well as responses from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to over 350 public comments submitted in response to the proposed rule. The final rule was published in the Federal Register on February 8, 2013.
Click here to view the final rule.
The Physician Payment Sunshine Act, which was passed as part of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, is intended to promote transparency of physician ownership and investment interests in health care manufacturers and group purchasing organizations (GPOs). Applicable manufacturers and GPOs will be required to annually report certain financial relationships with physicians, their immediate family members and teaching hospitals for the preceding year. CMS will then post the information on a public webpage which will be searchable and will have the ability to download content.