Are industry financial ties associated with greater scholarly impact among academic otolaryngologists?

Abstract

NA Laryngoscope, 127:87-94, 2017.

Association of Compensation From the Surgical and Medical Device Industry to Physicians and Self-declared Conflict of Interest

“…During recent years, the h index has been proposed as a better measure of scholarly influence compared with the number of publications and total number of citations. 5,8 Svider et al 9 found that academic otolaryngologists receiving more than $1000 in industrial contributions have higher h indices compared with otolaryngologists receiving less than $1000 (h index, 17.8 vs 10.9; P < .001). They also found that mean payments and the proportion of academic otolaryngologists receiving more than $1000 in payments significantly increased with higher academic rank (P < .05).…”

Industry relationships are associated with performing a greater number of sinus balloon dilation procedures

“…A more recent look at such relationships among otolaryngologists noted that the field generally has modest industry relationships compared with physicians in other surgical specialties . Another recent analysis noted that significant industry relationships (ie, receiving >$1,000) had an association with greater scholarly impact among academic otolaryngologists …”

“…The CMS Open Payment website (https://www.cms.gov/openpayments/) was accessed to determine the extent of industry relationships with these providers during 2014. This website was created by the PPSA, a part of the Affordable Care Act, in an attempt to provide transparency regarding industry‐physician relationships, and has been used in numerous analyses exploring industry relationships among physicians . The CMS website categorizes industry payments into various categories, including research payments.…”

“…Individuals included in this analysis were divided into the following categories: those who did not have “significant” relationships with industry (<$1,000); those with “significant” industry relationships ($1,000 to $10,000); and those with “major” industry relationships (>$10,000). The lower threshold was based on a prior analysis evaluating industry relationships among academic otolaryngologists, which used the $1,000 cutoff, and our wish to remain consistent with this prior methodology; the upper threshold of $10,000 represents 2× the US Department of Health and Human Services figure for industry funding from a single source over a 12‐month period, representing a reportable conflict of interest for principal investigators receiving funding from the National Institutes of Health.…”

“…Industry outreach promotes awareness of novel innovations. Concerns have been raised, however, that such relationships may also unduly impact medical decision‐making . In our current healthcare environment, in which third‐party payors have been disincentivizing numerous OR procedures, understanding the role of emerging technologies has never been more important.…”