FRANKLIN LAKES, N.J.—The transparency required by the “Sunshine Act,” now in effect, has implications for all health care professionals. This week’s Oct. 22 edition of the “Power Hour,” will focus on the topic, with guests Rick Weisbarth, OD of Alcon and Dave Rybak of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care. The weekly radio show is broadcast at 9:00 p.m. ET, hosted by Gary Gerber, OD, founder of The Power Practice.

The Physician Payment Sunshine Act, part of the health care reform bill, was adopted in March 2010. But it wasn’t until February 2013 that the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released final regulations to implement that act. Under the Sunshine Act, data on payments and gifts made to physicians and teaching hospitals by medical device and pharmaceutical companies must be publicly available on a searchable federal database, starting in September 2014.

Gary Gerber said, “Now that’s it’s here and in effect, we’ll get you up-to-date on the Sunshine Act. If a sales rep leaves behind a pen or post-it notes on Monday, and prescribe more of their drug on Tuesday, are you in violation of this new regulation? Are you required to keep track of how much the lunch with your contact lens rep costs and if you don’t, is there a penalty? What if the lunch was $9 vs. $20? What if that lunch is a buffet at your state meeting and during that meeting, you walk through an exhibit hall and pick up a pen. Is that a problem?

“Are your patients accessing this information?,” Gerber asked. “Even if you do something as seemingly benign as attending an industry sponsored CE event, you should listen to this show to learn about this important new law,” he said.

The Power Hour is sponsored by Essilor of America, Optovue, VisionWeb and VSP Global. Details about the shows, including how to listen in and links to previous episodes, can be found online at PowerHourInfo.