On August 2, 2016, at 1:30 pm EST, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Open Payments Program will host a “Special Open Door Forum” to receive live feedback from stakeholders on the solicitation to inform future rulemaking in the proposed 2017 Physician Fee Schedule.
CMS is soliciting feedback from Open Payments stakeholders on expanding and clarifying Open Payments program requirements and is not currently under no statutory deadlines or implementation schedules that require CMS to make any changes to the current rule. However, CMS does believe stakeholder feedback is important as they continue to move forward in enhancing their system and refining their reporting requirements.
To aid stakeholders, CMS has already provided quite a lengthy list of topics on which it would like to receive comments, a summary of the proposed schedule and requested input can be found here. CMS also published a slide show of questions they will be discussing, which can be found here.
Some requested input focuses on reporting on past years:
Other requested input involves pre-vetting:
And still other input requested focuses on ownership and investment interests:
This forum and effort to receive comments is separate from the third reporting cycle, which published data on June 30, 2016. Further, this solicitation will not impact any future reporting requirements without additional rulemaking or public notice.
If you are interested in attending, you can dial in to 1 (800) 837-1935 and use Conference ID# 44678813. If you cannot attend but are still interested in submitting comments, you may submit them to OpenPaymentsComments@cms.hhs.gov by September 6, 2016.
A transcript and audio recording of this Special ODF will be posted to the Special Open Door Forum website at http://www.cms.gov/OpenDoorForums/05_ODF_SpecialODF.asp for downloading.
For automatic emails of Open Door Forum schedule updates (E-Mailing list subscriptions) and to view Frequently Asked Questions please visit our website at http://www.cms.gov/OpenDoorForums/.