A systematic review of state and manufacturer physician payment disclosure websites: implications for implementation of the Sunshine Act.

Under the Physician Payment Sunshine Act (PPSA), payments to physicians from pharmaceutical, biologics, and medical device manufacturers will be disclosed on a national, publicly available website. To inform the development of the federal website, we evaluated 21 existing state and industry disclosure websites. The presentation formats and language used suggest that industry websites are aimed at patient audiences whereas state websites are structured to transmit data to researchers and guide compliance officers. These findings raise questions about the intended audience and aims of the PPSA disclosure database and expected outcomes of the law. Based on our evaluation, we offer recommendations for the national website and discuss implications of this policy for the health care system.