Physician Payment Sunshine Act: CMS to Host Education for Company Registration and Data Submission

According to a release from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), in response to stakeholder requests, on November 19, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. EST, CMS will present the first two sessions in a series of technology-focused webinars designed to introduce features of the Open Payments system currently in development. The webinars focus on two major Open Payments components: registration and data submission. 

Go here to register for the November 19 Open Payments system webinar; enter your name and email address into the box titled “Complete this form to enter the webinar.” Once you’ve submitted the required registration information, you’ll receive an automatic confirmation email. 

Webinar 1 (1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.): Open Payments Registration

This first hour is targeted to individuals who represent manufacturers of drugs, devices, biologicals, or medical supplies, plus distributors, group purchasing organizations (GPOs), or other entities required to submit data under Open Payments. Other interested participants are welcome to attend.

Webinar 2 (2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.): Data Submission

This second hour is targeted to individuals responsible for creating data submission files for manufacturers of drugs, devices, biologicals, or medical supplies, plus distributors, GPOs, or other entities submitting data under Open Payments. Other interested participants are welcome to attend.

On December 3, 2013, CMS will host a follow-up Q&A session after participants have had the opportunity to fully review the data submission resources. More information on that webinar will be available following the November 19 webinars. 

Details on the other upcoming sessions in the technology webinar series, as well as links to recordings of these sessions, will be available soon on the Open Payments Events page.

 High Level Regional Webinars Also Coming Soon

 In the coming weeks, CMS will also conduct webinars to provide a regional-level overview of Open Payments for associations, medical societies, physicians, practitioners, and practice managers. These calls will include broad program information designed for participants with little background knowledge of the program. See below for session dates, times, and access details.

 CMS Regions 1, 2, 3, and 4
Date: Tuesday, November 19
Time: 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. EST
Webinar Link: https://webinar.cms.hhs.gov/ro1-4openpayment/
Dial-In: 1-877-267-1577
Meeting ID Number (no password required): 998 023 973

 CMS Regions 5, 6, 7, and 8
Date: Wednesday, November 20
Time: 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. EST
Webinar Link: https://webinar.cms.hhs.gov/r05-8openpayment/ 
Dial-In: 1-877-267-1577
Meeting ID Number (no password required): 997 589 431

 CMS Regions 9 and 10
Date: Thursday, November 14
Time: 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. EST
Webinar Link: https://webinar.cms.hhs.gov/ro9-10openpayment/
Dial-In: 1-877-267-1577
Meeting ID Number (no password required): 994 209 357

 In addition, the Frequently Asked Questions section of the CMS site is available again to users, and additional FAQs have been added to provide detailed guidance on a number of topics, including:

• Why research was removed as a nature of payment category.
• Registration requirements for applicable manufacturers and applicable GPOs.
• If donations to teaching hospitals’ foundations are reportable under Open Payments.

In response to user feedback, these newly added FAQs are noted as “NEW,” and going forward, the posting date will also be displayed for each FAQ. And remember, in addition to the FAQs, a wide variety of informational resources, such fact sheets and an Open Payments User Guide, are available on the Open Payments website.