Senior Executive to Share Views On Physician Payment Sunshine Provisions

ELLICOTT CITY, Md., June 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Adam Chasse, vice president for business development at RxTrials, Inc., will participate in a presentation on Capitol Hill this Friday, June 17, regarding the Physician Payment Sunshine provisions of the health care reform legislation passed last year. Chasse will join representatives of the Association of Clinical Research Organizations (ACRO) and other industry stakeholders in the briefing for legislative staffers.

The Physician Payment Sunshine provisions were part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act signed into law on March 23, 2010. The provisions require drug and medical device manufacturers to publicly report gifts and payments of more than $10 made to physicians and teaching hospitals. Examples of what must be reported include stock options, consulting fees, travel and lodging for conferences, honoraria, and research funding or grants. Reporting is to begin for payments in the 2012 calendar year. The information is to be fully reported by March 31, 2013, and posted in a searchable database starting September 30, 2013.

It is the opinion of Chasse and other clinical research industry professionals that disclosing payments made to physicians who serve as principal investigators for clinical research adds great cost and complexity to research & development for relatively small benefit.

"Research grants differ from consulting fees in that they are intended to cover the very real costs providers incur when conducting clinical research; average profit margins are minimal, so grants are unlikely to entice physicians to write more prescriptions for the pharma company's drug," Chasse said. "Plus, grants typically flow through one or more intermediaries such as a CRO, research management company, or university, making it very difficult to quantify what the physician actually receives. Our goal on Friday is to explain the challenges these provisions present to our industry."

Chasse/RxTrials

RxTrials, Inc., is a network of premier clinical research sites and parent company of RxTrials Institute, a leading national clinical research consultant and education provider. RxTrials Institute each year presents the Site Solutions Summit, a top networking and business management conference for clinical research sites, sponsors and CROs. The Summit takes place this year October 14 – 16 in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida (sitesolutionssummit.com).

SOURCE RxTrials, Inc.