Abstract 14058: Sex-based Differences in Reported Payments to Cardiologists by Drug and Device Manufacturers

Abstract

Introduction: Sex-based disparities in salaries and promotion in cardiovascular medicine are well known, but there is little data on industry compensation by sex. We attempted to explore sex differences in financial ties to industry in the form of drug and device manufacturer payments to cardiologists. Methods: 2018 Open Payments data was obtained from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). A cross walk was used to link CMS National Plan and Provider Enumeration System National Provider Identifier Data with open payments data. Physician specialty (adult cardiology), sex, state of practice, number and amount of payments, drug and device information were obtained and aggregated for analysis using natural language processing. Results: In 2018, total of 879,119 payments were made to 29246 physicians (10.2% female), totaling $145,556,106. Nationwide, female cardiologists had lower rates of payments (15.5 payments per year vs 25.9 payments), lower average compensation per payment ($113 vs $169) when compared to their male counterparts. Analysis of five drugs/devices with the largest aggregated payments revealed that the female representation in certain categories (consulting, compensation for serving as speaker-non continuing education, and travel and lodging) was far lower than expected (3.8%, 5.4%, and 4.2% respectively). Conclusions: Female cardiologists received fewer payments and lower compensation per payment from drug and device manufacturers as compared to their male counterparts. Further studies are required to determine reasons behind differences in compensation and efforts be made to standardize compensation regardless of sex to promote equal opportunities for all physicians.