CMS reopens Open Payments system

The CMS has announced that it has reopened its Open Payments system to physicians and teaching hospitals. Sept. 8 is the deadline to complete the process of reviewing and disputing any data discrepancies.

The date was extended to provide the original 45 days CMS said physicians and hospitals would have to review the data, but the system closed Aug. 2 after data-matching errors were found. In some cases, the wrong national provider identifiers (NPIs) were used; in others, physicians with the same first and last names were mismatched with payment data. Incorrect state licensing numbers also were identified. CMS said the errors have been resolved.

“After careful review, CMS implemented a system modification that included more enhanced algorithms and validation checks to resolve the issues, and verified that the physician identifiers used by the applicable manufacturer or [group purchasing organization] are accurate, and that all payment records are attributed to a single physician,” CMS said in a press release. “Incorrect payment transactions have been removed from the current review and dispute process and this data will not be published this year.”