The Penn Health System is trying to stop drug companies from courting physicians with perks like fancy sandwiches and company merchandise.
A policy to take effect July 1 prohibits physicians from accepting gifts and meals from pharmaceutical company representatives on hospital premises.
Health System doctors can only prescribe drugs that have been approved by a committee. Drug companies hope that by sidling up to doctors, they can get their products on the committee's list, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania Pharmacy Director Rick Demers said.
The Penn hospitals are HUP, Presbyterian Medical Center and Pennsylvania Hospital.
Demers said that though HUP hasn't calculated the amount drug companies spend at Penn each year, he estimates that there are several medical practices in the system that receive meals from companies daily.
"There are a number of companies that view food as the key to the doors here at the hospital," he said, adding that health centers elsewhere have calculated that drug companies spend over $1 million annually to attract physicians from their health system.
Also under the new policy, pharmaceutical companies will still be able to give financial grants to the Penn Health System, but they will be less able than before to specify how the money should be spent.
Patrick Brennan, chief medical officer at HUP, said even small gifts can influence a physician to support a specific product, and the policy change should eliminate this.
It creates a sense of obligation "which leads to decisions which are not always in the best interest of the patient," he said.
Brennan added that policies similar to the one at Penn may become a trend in health care.
"I think it is something that we are taking a lead on," he said.
Yet prohibiting drug representatives from contacting physicians through lunches and gifts may have some companies worried about their ability to foster support for their products, Demers said.
He added that though there has been no definitive reaction from drug companies yet, he expects that there will be soon.
"Everyone so far is just trying to digest and understand the full impact of the policy changes," Demers noted.
Abby Baron, a spokeswoman for drug company AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP, wrote in an e-mail that while pharmaceutical manufacturers "play an important role in educating physicians and providing them with essential scientific information," strong relations with hospitals and doctors are crucial.
Brennan agreed that companies will likely do whatever is necessary to build strong relations with Penn's hospitals.
"I think they feel like they can comply with these policies and can work with us," he said.
