Ontario Open Payments: Proposed Rule for the Health Sector Payment Transparency Act

Pharmaceutical and Device Payment Transparency is making its way to our Northern neighbor, Canada. On December 12, 2017, the Health Sector Payment Transparency Act, 2017 (HSPTA) received Royal Assent and became part of the Strengthening Quality and Accountability for Patients Act, 2017. The passage and enactment of the HSPTA allows Ontario to claim the title of the first Canadian province or territory to require the reporting of transfers of value between the pharmaceutical and medical device industry to health professionals and hospitals. The information must be reported to the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care for publication in an online database. Recently, the Ontario government issued draft regulations that lay out how the transparency law is expected to work, including the way anyone will be able to search the name of a health charity or non-profit in the online database to access funding information. HSPTA was enacted in an attempt to strengthen the transparency and increase patient trust in the health care system. Under the Act, payors (those that provide a transfer of value to a recipient in relation to “medical products”) will be required to report information about both direct and indirect transfers of value over a prescribed threshold. Transfers of value, as defined in the legislation, is overly broad and includes items such as meals and hospitality, travel expenses, financial grants, referral fees, items provided on a value-added basis in connection wit...
Source: Policy and Medicine - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs