Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut.
Department of Therapeutic Radiology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut.
Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2016 Jan 1;94(1):19-26. doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2015.09.004. Epub 2015 Sep 16.
To use the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Open Payments database to characterize payments made to radiation oncologists and compare their payment profile with that of medical and surgical oncologists.
The June 2015 release of the Open Payments database was accessed, containing all payments made to physicians in 2014. The general payments dataset was used for analysis. Data on payments made to medical, surgical, and radiation oncologists was obtained and compared. Within radiation oncology, data regarding payment category, sponsorship, and geographic distribution were identified. Basic statistics including mean, median, range, and sum were calculated by provider and by transaction.
Among the 3 oncologic specialties, radiation oncology had the smallest proportion (58%) of compensated physicians and the lowest mean ($1620) and median ($112) payment per provider. Surgical oncology had the highest proportion (84%) of compensated physicians, whereas medical oncology had the highest mean ($6371) and median ($448) payment per physician. Within radiation oncology, nonconsulting services accounted for the most money to physicians ($1,042,556), whereas the majority of the sponsors were medical device companies (52%). Radiation oncologists in the West accepted the most money ($2,041,603) of any US Census region.
Radiation oncologists in 2014 received a large number of payments from industry, although less than their medical or surgical counterparts. As the Open Payments database continues to be improved, it remains to be seen whether this information will be used by patients to inform choice of providers or by lawmakers to enact policy regulating physician-industry relationships.
利用医疗保险和医疗补助服务中心（Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services）的公开支付数据库（Open Payments database）来描述支付给放射肿瘤学家的款项，并将其支付情况与医学肿瘤学家和外科肿瘤学家进行比较。
访问了 2015 年 6 月发布的公开支付数据库，其中包含了 2014 年向医生支付的所有款项。使用通用支付数据集进行分析。获取并比较了支付给医学、外科和放射肿瘤学家的款项数据。在放射肿瘤学领域，确定了支付类别、赞助和地理分布的数据。根据提供者和交易计算了平均值、中位数、范围和总和等基本统计数据。
在这 3 个肿瘤学专业中，放射肿瘤学的受偿医生比例最小（58%），每位医生的平均（$1620）和中位数（$112）支付额最低。外科肿瘤学的受偿医生比例最高（84%），而医学肿瘤学的每位医生的平均（$6371）和中位数（$448）支付额最高。在放射肿瘤学领域，非咨询服务向医生支付的款项最多（$1,042,556），而大多数赞助商是医疗设备公司（52%）。美国任何一个普查区的医生接受的来自西部的款项最多（$2,041,603）。
尽管 2014 年放射肿瘤学家从行业获得了大量款项，但比他们的医学或外科同行少。随着公开支付数据库的不断改进，尚不清楚这些信息是否会被患者用来告知选择提供者的决策，或者被立法者用来制定规范医生与行业关系的政策。
