Physician Payment Sunshine Act: AAFP Raises Concerns with CMS Proposal to Remove Accredited CME Exclusion

The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) "strongly disagrees" with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposal to eliminate the continuing medical education exemption from the Sunshine Act. AAFP, which represents 115,900 family physicians and medical students across the country, wrote to CMS to outline their concerns that the proposal would create "an inadvertent barrier to the development and delivery of high quality certified or accredited CME with the final result of negatively affecting care provided to patients." AAFP notes that "CMS recognized that industry support for accredited or certified CME is a unique relationship that calls for a unique treatment," in the February 1, 2013 Sunshine Act Final Rule. "That remains unchanged today." "Physicians must stay up to date on the latest medical research and medications so they can provide the most appropriate care to their patients," AAFP states. "Each year, this research results in new treatment breakthroughs, medications, diagnostic procedures, and clinical guidelines." Collaboration between physicians, device manufacturers, and pharmaceutical companies is critical, they argue, if "physicians are to remain current with the latest research and provide state-of-the-art care that the public deserves." Industry-supported accredited CME strictly adheres to the ACCME's Standards for Commercial Support, AAFP states. "In recognition of this reality, CMS made the right policy decision when it issu...
Source: Policy and Medicine - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs