Physician Payments Sunshine Act: Physician and Teaching Hospital Registration Phase II Begins on July 14, Dispute Resolution Window Lasts Until August 27

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has just announced that physicians and teaching hospitals can begin final registration and reviewing their data in the Open Payments system on Monday, July 14. Although registering with Open Payments is voluntary, it becomes a mandatory process if physicians and teaching hospitals want the opportunity to review and dispute data submitted by applicable manufacturers and applicable group purchasing organizations (GPOs) prior to public posting on September 30, 2014. 

45-Day Dispute Period: July 14 – August 27

In order to review or dispute data submitted by industry for the 2013 reporting period, physicians must be registered—and have reviewed any data reported about them—on or before August 27, 2014, the end of the initial 45-day review and dispute period.  And with identity verification as part of the registration process, which can take some time, CMS recommends completing the registration process as soon as possible.

This review, dispute, and correction process spans a total of 60 days. The initial 45-day period (July 14 through August 27) is for physicians and teaching hospitals to review and initiate any disputes they may have regarding the data reported about them by applicable manufacturers and applicable GPOs. The remaining 15-day period (August 28 through September 11) is additional time that has been provided to industry to submit dispute corrections.

CMS states that two key activities will take place during this period:

• Before CMS releases any data publicly, physicians and teaching hospitals (who are registered in CMS’ Enterprise Portal and the Open Payments system) may review and, if necessary, initiate disputes relating to data submitted about them; and,

• Applicable manufacturers and applicable GPOs will analyze these disputes and work with physicians and teaching hospitals to come to agreement on any necessary corrections.

Physicians and Teaching Hospitals Can Prepare for the Review and Dispute Process by:

• (1) Registering in the Open Payments system (have your CMS Enterprise Portal user ID and password readily available—created in Phase 1);
• (2) Delegating roles and responsibilities by nominating system users to fill specific user roles (think of individuals you want to interact with the Open Payments system on your behalf, such as a physician or teaching hospital authorized representative/ official);
• (3) Gather any records of payments, transfers of value, ownership or investments that you may have received between August 1, 2013 and December 31, 2013;
• (4) Ask your local industry representative if any organization they represent has reported to CMS any data on payments, transfers of value you have received, ownership or investment interests you have held; if so, ask for a copy;
• (5) Review and dispute data submitted by applicable manufacturers and applicable GPOs prior to public posting of the data. Note: Any data that is disputed, if not corrected by industry, will still be made public but will be marked as disputed. 
• (6) Organize your industry contact information as you will be working directly with them to resolve any disputes or answer any questions you may have in regards to the data they’ve reported.

Enterprise Portal registration is a required first step to allow for registration in the Open Payments system when it becomes available on July 14.

Educational Resources Coming July 22

On July 22, CMS will host a National Provider Call. In the coming weeks, the registration link for the call will be posted to the Event page of the Open Payments website at http://go.cms.gov/openpayments.