Editorial Comment: Industry Payments in Urology.

Pharmaceutical industry payments to physicians are common, totaling over $2.6 billion in 2021. 1 The facts about Open Payments data. CMS. Accessed June 29, 2023. 〈https://openpaymentsdata.cms.gov/summary〉. Google Scholar While studies have assessed the nature of these relationships across several physician specialties, 2 Tringale K.R. Marshall D. Mackey T.K. Connor M. Murphy J.D. Hattangadi-Gluth J.A. Types and distribution of payments from industry to physicians in 2015. JAMA. 2017; 317: 1774-1784https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2017.3091 Google Scholar less is known about the prevalence of payments to advanced practice providers (APPs). Since urologists are among the most frequent recipients, 3 Bergman A. Grennan M. Swanson A. Medical device firm payments to physicians exceed what drug companies pay physicians, target surgical specialists. Health Aff. 2021; 40: 603-612https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2020.01785 Google Scholar this study sought to characterize industry relationships with urologic APPs. The study found that in 2021, 87% of urologists and 87% of urologic APPs received industry payments. Although the median value and total number were significantly higher for urologists than urologic APPs, the latter group still received a median of $473 across 21 payments. The study provided important context regarding financial conflict of interest between APPs and industry, although it did not assess the implications on clinical care. With the growing presence of APPs in healthcare 4 Auerbach D.I. Staiger D.O. Buerhaus P.I. Growing ranks of advanced practice clinicians - implications for the physician workforce. N Engl J Med. 2018; 378: 2358-2360https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMp1801869 Google Scholar and their evolving scope of practice, these providers are likely to be increasingly managing various disease states in a urologic practice. 5 Hyman M.J. Modi P.K. The growth of advanced practice providers in urology procedural care: evidence from public and private health insurers. Urology. 2022; 168: 110-115https://doi.org/10.1016/j.urology.2022.06.027 Google Scholar However, more research is needed to understand whether the prescribing patterns of these providers are influenced by industry relationships.