Maya Babu, MD, presented a study at the American Association of Neurological Surgeons annual meeting examining the impact of the Open Payments Database on neurosurgery.
The study received the Byron Cone Pevehouse Young Neurosurgeons Award. The researchers examined the Open Payments Database, which CMS launched in 2014 to provide information on physician-industry interactions. The researchers examined the 4.3 million records for neurosurgeons in 2013 and 11.41 million for neurosurgeons in 2014.
The researchers found:
1. There were 1,607 physicians listed as neurosurgeons within the Open Payments database in 2013, but 397 were not actually neurosurgeons. In 2013, 376 of the 1,841 physicians listed as neurosurgeons were incorrectly identified.
2. There were 3,073 board-certified neurosurgeons listed with around 63,787 attributed records in 2013.
3. In 2014, there were 3,424 board-certified neurosurgeons listed with around 160,193 attributed records.
4. Total payments for neurosurgeons in 2013 was more than $33 million; in 2014 total payments were around $92.2 million.
5. The researchers concluded the Open Payments Database suffers from "multiple inaccuracies and a lack of appropriate context for value transfers."
"Publicly availing inaccurate information through a searchable government website has the potential to tarnish both individuals and the profession," concluded the study authors.