March 04, 2016
payments or other transfers of value, including payments made to physician covered recipients for purposes of attending or speaking at continuing education events, which do not meet the definition of an indirect payment as defined at § 403.902 are not reportable.Furthermore, CMS expanded and emphasized on this and stated that CME-related payments that comply with independence standards such as the AMA’s certified and ACCME’s accredited CME programs are “not reportable regardless†of whether the manufacturer “learns the identity of the covered recipient†in any future timeframe “because the payment or transfer of value did not meet the definition of an indirect payment.†In both cases, CMS clarified and reiterated that when an “applicable manufacturer conveys ‘full discretion’ to the continuing education provider, those payments are outside the scope of the rule†and thus, not subject to reporting.
Therefore, while every commercial supporter must make its own determination as to the reportability of specific payments, compliant AMA certified and ACCME accredited programs or activities should not meet the definition of a reportable payment under the Physician Payments Sunshine Act (“Sunshine Act†or “Open Paymentsâ€).The full press release with guidance from The AMA can be found here. If you have any questions about this document or Sunshine Reporting, please feel free to contact us here.