Physician Payments Sunshine Act: Comparison Chart for Phase 1 and Phase 2 of Open Payments

March 17: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a reminder that Open Payments Phase 1 ends on March 31. They also included a comparison chart highlighting the differences between Phase 1 and Phase 2. CMS announced their two-phased process for Open Payments in February and have been frequently updating stakeholders with details and timelines for their new roll-out plan.

PHASE 1:

Companies are responsible for two things in Phase 1. CMS provided a step by step instruction list to comply with the requirements of Phase 1. The process doesn’t look complicated, but CMS makes it as cut and dry as possible.

First, authorized officials must register in CMS’ Enterprise Portal, the gateway to CMS’ Enterprise Identity Management system (EIDM).

Second, authorized officials or their designees must submit limited corporate profile information and aggregate 2013 payment and investment interest data.

CMS gave an example of how to enter aggregate data with the following transfer of value scenario:

PHASE 2:

Phase 2, which CMS states will begin in May and extend for at least 30 days, requires much more information than Phase 1. Applicable manufacturers and applicable group purchasing organizations must:

• Complete corporate (entity) registration
• Complete “authorized official” registration
• Register additional users (beyond the authorized official)
• Submit detailed 2013 payment data via the Open Payments system
• Attest to the timeliness, accuracy and completeness of the detailed 2013 payment data submission

CMS notes that they will not exercise enforcement prior to the close of Phase 2 data submission. Phase 1 acts like the trial run, with companies submitting only the entire sum of payments, while Phase 2 will provide the data that will populate CMS’ searchable list of specific transactions.

CMS offered a side by side comparison of Phase 1 and 2, broken down into categories: EIDM Registration, Open Payments Registration, Data Submission, and General Differences.

EIDM Registration

CMS’ step-by-step process to register in EIDM is available here. As the comparison indicates, more individuals have the option of registering in EIDM in Phase 2, including companies and potentially physicians. The process of registering, however, is the same in both phases.

Open Payments Registration

As the chart indicates, there is not much information currently available for Open Payments registration. After EIDM registration is completed, users will be able to access the Registration Home Page, where they can download the instruction document and sample template to complete Phase 1 Aggregate data submission. Once Phase 2 rolls around in May, Open Payments requires entities and authorized officials to register, to submit detailed 2013 payment data, attest to the accuracy of the data, and review and correct the submitted detailed data.

Data Submission

Data Submission in Phase 1 is very simplified compared to Phase 2. The information submitted in Phase 1 includes only limited corporate profile information and aggregate payment data. In Phase 2, the files submitted to CMS must contain detailed payments broken down into General Payments, Research Payments, and Physician Ownership.

Furthermore, there is no consolidated reporting in Phase 1. All users who need to report payments through the Open Payments system need to register in EIDM regardless of whether or not they will submit a consolidated report in Phase 2. In Phase 2, users have the ability to submit a consolidated report containing data from multiple entities that are associated with the same parent entity.

There is also no attestation in Phase 1, nor do companies submit an assumptions document.

General Differences

CMS lists an array of resources for Phase 1 and Phase 2 as well

Phase 1: Guidance for Phase 1, including the sample template and instruction document, can be found on the Open Payments Program Registration and Open Payments Data Submission and Attestation pages of the Open Payments website. Step-by-step instructions on EIDM registration are available in step-by-step instructions provided on the Open Payments website.

Phase 2: Guidance for Phase 2, including the sample template and instruction document, can be found on the Open Payments Program Registration and Open Payments Data Submission and Attestation pages of the Open Payments website.

The Open Payments Events page contains information on all of our previously held webinars. Links to each archived live event and slide deck can be found on this page. The Open Payments User Guide is also available for reference.

The March 31 deadline looks like it will be the calm before the storm as CMS provides more information about the detailed reporting requirements to come in Phase 2.