Physicians collect $13B in payment perks from industry sources, but only 3% goes to radiologists

Physicians collected nearly $13 billion in payment perks from industry sources during the six years ending in 2022. However, only about 2.8% went to radiologists, according to research published July 20 in Clinical Imaging [1].

Members of the specialty received over 452,000 such payments for a total of $357 million during the study period. “Ownership”—which can include stock options, partnership shares and limited liability company memberships—was the largest figure for radiologists at nearly 33% of industry payment value, followed by “research” (10%).

The findings are derived from an analysis of claims from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Open Payments program, created to shine light on physician ties to industry. Lead author Mihir Khunte and colleagues believe the data demonstrate that most radiologists are not abusing these interactions.

“Concerns have been previously raised about quid pro quo relationships and conflicts of interest if high-value industry payments mostly reflect gratuitous interactions with industry (e.g., gifts), as these may lead to negative outcomes for healthcare spending and resource utilization,” Khunte, with the Yale Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging at the time of the study, and co-authors wrote July 20. “However, our study results show that a significant proportion of payments in radiology are in categories reflecting innovation (royalty/ownership and research fees).”

The only specialties with higher payments in the categories of ownership and research (as a proportion of total value) between 2017-2022 were neurosurgery, orthopedics and plastic surgery. Radiologists’ nearly 10% tally of research payments was fourth on the list, behind others such as allergy/immunology (12%) and dermatology (12%). Consulting fees constituted about 33% of industry payments in radiology, third among all specialties. This category can sometimes include payments for scientific advancement or other more questionable purposes.

Khunte and colleagues believe this and previous studies underline the importance of continued transparency with respect to physicians’ industry ties.

“Accurate disclosures are critical to mitigate the risk of bias. High rates of nondisclosures have been shown by authors in radiology journals as well as presenters at national radiology society meetings,” the authors noted. “Greater awareness of the easy public access to this data, as well as the reporting requirements, would increase transparency and improve the public trust.”