Breaking months of silence on Open Payments data, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) updated some of the Open Payments data available on its website.
CMS still plans to update the Open Payments data at least once a year to include updates from disputes and other data corrections that were made since the initial publication of the data. The updates by CMS affect all types of payments or transfers of value to physicians, teaching hospitals, and physician ownership and investment interests.
This updated Open Payments dataset reflects changes that were made to records, changes to delays in publication flags, changes to disputed records, and records that were deleted. The updated data was submitted by the applicable manufacturers and applicable group purchasing organizations (GPOs), and the accuracy of all data included in the update was attested to by the submitting applicable manufacturer or GPO.
Not only did CMS update the actual data, but the Open Payments data website itself was updated and enhanced with new added features. The new added features include: a homepage tool where you can search for physicians by name, a snapshot of Open Payment facts, and sections to explore and download data.
Updated Data Information
While CMS did a data refresh, that does not mean that all of the data on the Open Payments website is undisputed now. Currently, of the $3.49 billion in general payments, $5.94 million is in dispute; of the $4.81 billion in research payments, $19.07 million is in dispute; and of the $1.02 billion in investments, $1.19 million are in dispute.
For the 14.84 million records of general payments, 2,672 of them are under dispute; and of the 823,000 records of research payments, 1,378 of them are disputed.
New Interface – Sort of
In addition to updating the data CMS updated the opening page of Open Payment Data. Now the page goes directly to a picture which reads find your doctors payments, this is an updated version of the old screen in which you would also enter in the city, state, country and specialty. Now if your doctor’s last name is Khan or Smith the patient gets to scroll through hundreds of pages of names. Though the old interface is still available if one presses the option to select by teaching hospital or company name, There is still little context on the home page as to what those payments are for, or why a patient would want to know about them. Overall the interface and subsequent data is still very confusing for a patient.
New Interface
Old Interface
Open Payments System Down
From Thursday, January 21, 2016 through Tuesday, January 26, 2016, the Open Payments system will be unavailable as CMS works to update and improve upon how the system works. While the Open Payments system will not be available for use during that time, you will still be able to see Open Payments data and use the data search tool on the website, and register at the Enterprise Portal (EIDM).
Conclusion
It is promising that CMS is yearly updating their data. Publishing outdated or incorrect data is not being transparent, but instead, can be considered to be unknowingly misleading.
As we have previously written, the push for transparency can have concerning ramifications for patients and physicians alike. Patients who rely on Open Payments data, and the doctors who serve those patients, deserve to, at the very least, have reliable information presented through the Open Payments website. We continue to advocate for life science companies and physicians keeping track of their reporting for Open Payments, to help cut down on the confusion for patients.