Payments from Industry to Orthopedic Surgeons Dropped after Disclosure Requirement

Payments from medical device makers to orthopedic surgeons dropped between 2007 and 2010 after payment disclosure became a requirement - there was a reduction in both the total amount paid and the number of individual payments, researchers from The University of Iowa and Iowa City Veterans Affairs Medical System reported in Archives of Internal Medicine - part of a Health Care Reform series the journal is publishing. 

...The researchers concluded: "Although mandating disclosure of consulting payments and efforts by academic institutions to 'monitor their own' seem prudent, universal and detailed disclosure with standardized reporting formats and data elements would make these data more useful to patients, providers and policymakers. There is a need for clearer specific requirements for disclosure to allow for meaningful long-term analyses to be performed."