2018 Pharmaceutical Payments to Doctors Now on CareDash

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Aug. 14, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) 2018 Open Payments Data was recently released and is now available on CareDash.com's healthcare provider profile pages. CareDash, a doctor-review website committed to improving transparency in the healthcare marketplace, sorts through and cleans the Open Payments data, linking it to individual providers. Users searching for a doctor on CareDash can now see exactly how much money they received from medical companies between 2014 and 2018, as well as the specific companies and drugs for which they received payment. 

Disclosed payments to doctors (excluding research and education payments) increased by around 1% from $2.10 billion in 2017 to $2.12 billion in 2018. This increase came despite concerns about the effect of pharmaceutical payments on doctor prescribing habits. A 2018 study by CareDash showed that providers who received a payment for a brand-name drug were over five times more likely to prescribe that drug the following year than providers who did not receive a payment.

"We often hear from patients that it felt like their doctor was pushing a specific brand drug on them, even though there was a cheaper generic option," says Ted Chan, CEO of CareDash. "We feel that it is vital for transparency in healthcare that patients know whether their doctor has received money from drug companies."

Total opioid payments fell to their lowest levels since Open Payments tracking began, at only $119k in 2018 (down from $8 million in 2014), no doubt a continued effect of societal and industry pushback against the opioid epidemic of the last few years.

Read the full updated report to get more detailed information and visuals about Open Payments on CareDash. 

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ABOUT CAREDASH: 
CareDash is the fastest growing doctor review website in the United States, committed to providing accessible information to help patients from all socioeconomic backgrounds make informed choices about their doctors. As well as verified patient reviews, it provides up-to-date information on a doctor's conditions treated, procedures performed, bio and contact information, pharmaceutical payments and disciplinary actions.

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SOURCE CareDash

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