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Be prepared for the Sept. 8 deadline
What you need to know about CMS’ Open Payments System
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On Aug. 15, CMS reopened its Open Payments System so that physicians and teaching hospitals can continue to review the transactions attributed to them, as reported by manufacturers or group purchasing organizations. The site was closed during the review period after substantial errors were found. Physicians and teaching hospitals now have until Sept. 8 to review the data, which are scheduled to be released to the public on Sept. 30.
To get started, physicians must first complete a two-part registration process with CMS. Part one consists of e-verification and must be completed before data can be reviewed. Part two entails registering with the Open Payments System to access and dispute data.
Confirm accuracy
The site was closed on Aug. 2 after several physicians found payments or “transfers of value” — which could include consulting fees, honoraria, research grants, ownership interests, entertainment provided, stocks, gifts or other payments for goods or services — attributed to them that were paid to another physician with the same or a similar name. There were also instances of incorrect national provider identifiers (NPIs) reported in the data. CMS said a new algorithm has been applied to the data that should resolve those errors, but physicians are advised to carefully check all fields to ensure accuracy.
Register, report discrepancies
Physicians have until Sept. 8 to report any discrepancies in the data to CMS by Sept. 8. Any disputed information that is not resolved before Sept. 8 will be publically available but listed as “under dispute,” according to CMS. The resolution will involve the physician, manufacturer and CMS. The manufacturer must send a corrected report to CMS and re-attest to the information, so the length of time to complete the corrections will largely be in the hands of the manufacturer or group purchasing organization.
A correction period is slated for Sept. 9 through Sept. 23. CMS reports that physicians and teaching hospitals may still dispute data during this time period, but the disputed information may be visible to the public after the Sept. 30 release. CMS also stated that information on incorrect payment transactions has been removed from the review process, and this data will not be published during 2014.
No reporting required
According to the American Medical Association, many goods and services do not require reporting, including:
- Food served at buffets available to all attendees at an informational gathering
- Certified and accredited CME
- Samples or educational materials intended for patient use
- Medical devices on short-term loan to physicians
However, ownership interests by immediate family members are to be included in the final release. Although encouraged to self-report where applicable, physicians are not required to report to CMS; all required data is to be supplied by manufacturers.
The public release of data is required by the Physician Payments Sunshine Act, a provision of the Affordable Care Act, also known as “Obamacare.” According to CMS, the purpose of the Open Payments System is to create transparency of funding to physicians from manufacturers.
“We view this program as a national resource for beneficiaries, consumers, and providers to know more about the relationships among physicians, teaching hospitals, and industry,” CMS wrote in an online fact sheet.