Focus Magazine - Spring 2013 - 15

VIEW POINT
Mike Capaldi

The Sunshine Act:
Partners for
Healthy Dialogues

SPBT has
signed on as a
partner
because we
are passionate
about this
initiative and
believe it is aligned
with our overall
mission.

fter a series of delayed deadlines and
months of anxious waiting, the Centers
for Medicare and Medicaid Services
(CMS) finally issued the final rule of the Physician Payments Sunshine Act on Feb. 1, 2013.
Part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Sunshine Act requires biopharmaceutical and medical device companies to report any transfers of
value made to physicians and teaching hospitals.
Under the new rule, companies must start collecting information on August 1, 2013, and CMS
will make the information accessible in a new
public database sometime around Sept. 2014.
What’s more, a survey conducted in January
by MMIS, Inc. found that more than 50 percent
of physicians are largely unaware of what the
Sunshine Act requires and 63 percent are deeply
concerned that this information will be made
public. What does this mean for our industry?
For physicians? For their patients?
With this in mind, I’m pleased to announce
that SPBT has joined forces with a coalition of
health care provider and biopharmaceutical
organizations to form Partners for Healthy
Dialogues, a partnership aimed at helping to
educate physicians, patients, and the public
about the value of collaboration between
physicians and biopharmaceutical professionals.
The ultimate goal of this partnership is to
provide physicians with the information to help
their patients gain a greater understanding of
how they benefit—from better patient care to
advancing medical innovation.
The release of the final rule has led to in-

creased discussion surrounding the implementation of the Sunshine Act and confusion about
how it affects patients and physicians, and how
medical care is delivered. In an effort to help
educate the public and to dispel any myths,
Partners for Healthy Dialogues has launched
www.HealthyDialogues.org. The website is
designed to provide sufficient context to convey
the crucial nature of the relationships between
biopharmaceutical companies and physicians –
and to encourage healthy dialogues. Some materials found on the website include a brief introductory video, fact sheets, FAQs and more. New
partners continue to join with us and the website
will be updated regularly with new information.
SPBT has signed on as a partner because we
are passionate about this initiative and believe it
is aligned with our overall mission. It also can
accelerate the pursuit of our vision: “To be the
most trusted community of life science training
professionals.” In addition to the site, you can
find information on the partnership’s YouTube
channel and at our conference in June, where I
will be facilitating a workshop about Partners for
Healthy Dialogues and the Sunshine Act.
We are all working hard to ensure the very
best outcomes for patients and the future of
medicine. Transparency serves as a positive way
to show patients how these collaborations help to
improve care. We can support transparency and
the Sunshine Act while maintaining a healthy
dialogue about the importance of collaboration
between physicians and the biopharmaceutical
industry. I

Mike Capaldi, M.Ed, is associate vice president, civic action & social networking, Sanofi U.S. & SPBT
Immediate Past President. Email Mike at Michael.Capaldi@sanofi.com.

FOCUS | SPRING 2013 | www.spbt.org

http://www.HealthyDialogues.org http://www.spbt.org

Focus Magazine - Spring 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Focus Magazine - Spring 2013