From Yale University (C.L.), New Haven, Connecticut.
Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging (M.K., K.T., S.P., A.M.), Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut.
AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2024 Nov 7;45(11):1642-1646. doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A8404.
Physician-industry relationships can be useful for driving innovation and technologic progress, though little is known about the scale or impact of industry involvement in neuroradiology. The purpose of this study was to assess the trends and distributions of industry payments to neuroradiologists.
Neuroradiologists were identified using a previously-validated method based on Work Relative Value Units and Neiman Imaging Types of Service classification. Data on payments from industry were obtained from the Open Payments database from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, from 2016 to 2021. Payments were grouped into 7 categories, including consulting fees, education, gifts, medical supplies, research, royalties/ownership, and speaker fees. Descriptive statistics were calculated.
A total of 3019 neuroradiologists were identified in this study. Between 2016 and 2021, 48% (1440/3019) received at least 1 payment from industry, amounting to a total number of 21,967 payments. Each year, among those receiving payments from industry, each unique neuroradiologist received between a mean of 5.49-7.42 payments and a median of 2 payments, indicating a strong rightward skew to the distribution of payments. Gifts were the most frequent payment type made (60%, 13,285/21,967) but accounted for only 4.1% ($689,859/$17,010,546) of payment value. The greatest aggregate payment value came from speaker fees, which made up 36% ($6,127,484/$17,010,546) of the total payment value. The top 5% highest paid neuroradiologists received 42% (9133/21,967) of payments, which accounted for 84% ($14,284,120/$17,010,546) of the total dollar value. Since the start of the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the number of neuroradiologists receiving industry payments decreased from a mean of 671 neuroradiologists per year prepandemic (2016-2019) to 411 in the postpandemic (2020-2021) era ( = .030). The total number of payments to neuroradiologists decreased from 4177 per year prepandemic versus 2631 per year postpandemic ( = .011).
Industry payments to neuroradiologists are highly concentrated among top earners, particularly among the top 5% of payment recipients. The number of payments decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic, though the dollar value of payments was offset by coincidental increases in royalty payments. Further investigation is needed in subsequent years to determine if the postpandemic changes in industry payment trends continue.
医师-产业关系有助于推动创新和技术进步，但人们对产业在神经放射学中的参与规模和影响知之甚少。本研究的目的是评估产业向神经放射学家支付款项的趋势和分布。
使用先前基于工作相对价值单位和 Neiman 成像服务类型分类验证的方法确定神经放射学家。从医疗保险和医疗补助服务中心的公开支付数据库中获取来自产业的支付数据，时间范围为 2016 年至 2021 年。将支付款项分为 7 类，包括咨询费、教育、礼品、医疗用品、研究、版税/所有权和演讲费。计算描述性统计数据。
本研究共确定了 3019 名神经放射学家。2016 年至 2021 年间，有 48%（1440/3019）的神经放射学家至少收到过一次产业支付，共计 21967 笔支付。每年，在收到产业支付的人中，每位独特的神经放射学家收到的支付次数在 5.49-7.42 次之间，中位数为 2 次，这表明支付的分布存在强烈的右偏态。礼品是最常见的支付类型（60%，13285/21967），但仅占支付价值的 4.1%（689859/17010546）。最大的总支付价值来自演讲费，占总支付价值的 36%（6127484/17010546）。前 5%的高薪神经放射学家获得了 42%（9133/21967）的支付，占总美元价值的 84%（14284120/17010546）。自 2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行开始以来，接受产业支付的神经放射学家人数从大流行前每年平均 671 名（2016-2019 年）下降到大流行后的 411 名（2020-2021 年）（=0.030）。向神经放射学家支付的总笔数从大流行前的每年 4177 笔下降到大流行后的每年 2631 笔（=0.011）。
向神经放射学家的产业支付高度集中在高收入者中，尤其是在支付接受者的前 5%。在 COVID-19 大流行期间，支付数量有所减少，但版税支付的增加抵消了支付金额的减少。需要在随后的几年中进行进一步调查，以确定大流行后产业支付趋势的变化是否持续。
