Economic benefits paid to doctors to be publicly disclosed

MOHW announces plan to disclose guidelines for pharmaceutical and medical device suppliers' expenditure reports

On the 21st, the government announced the guidelines for the public disclosure of expenditure reports on the legitimate financial benefits paid by pharmaceutical and medical device companies to doctors and pharmacists that will be disclosed in December.

 

The guidelines stipulate the detailed schedule, content, and method for disclosure of the economic benefit expenditure report prepared by companies as of the fiscal year 2023, per the amendments to the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act and the Medical Device Act, made on July 20, 2021.

 

Under the current law, the legally permissible economic benefits that can be provided are the provision of physical products, support for conferences, support for clinical trials, product presentations, post-marketing surveys, cost discounts based on payment terms, and use for performance verification before purchase (medical devices only).

 

When the expenditure report is disclosed, the public will be able to check the medical institution (name, symbol of the medical institution) that received economic benefits from drug and medical device suppliers, information on support for conferences, and the amount of support provided to participants at product presentations.

 

However, under the Enforcement Rules of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act and the Medical Device Act, the names of recipients such as medical practitioners whose personal information is at risk of exposure and clinical trial information containing confidential business strategies will be de-identified and disclosed in the expenditure report.

 

This is in accordance with Article 44 (2) (3) of the Enforcement Rule of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, which stipulates, "If the Minister of Health and Welfare is notified that the details of the expenditure report contain information subject to non-disclosure under Article 9 of the Official Information Disclosure Act, it shall be disclosed after taking necessary measures to ensure that the contents cannot be identified.

 

Kyung-sil Chung, Director Bureau of Healthcare Policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW), said, "The disclosure of the expenditure reports is to create an environment for the industry to self-censor rebates through the disclosure of legitimate economic benefits.

 

We will be receiving related data through the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service from June this year, and we ask for the companies’ cooperation to ensure accurate information disclosure." The operating guidelines for the expenditure report will be available on the websites of HIRA and other related associations.