With the close of Open Payments submission just behind us, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) plans to publish the Open Payments Program Year 2016 data and updates to the 2013, 2014, and 2015 program years on June 30, 2017.
As such, the review and dispute period for the Program Year 2016 Open Payments data publication begins on Saturday, April 1, 2017 and will last until Monday, May 15, 2017. Physicians and teaching hospitals must initiate their disputes during this 45-day review period in order for any disputes to be addressed before the June 30th publication.
Physician and teaching hospital review of the data is voluntary, but strongly encouraged by CMS. While the opportunity for physicians and teaching hospitals to dispute any data associated with them expires at the end of the calendar year in which the record is published, the disputes must be addressed during the 45-day review and dispute period, ending on May 15th, in order to be reflected in the June 30th publication.
To those who have never registered in the Open Payments system before, you will need to create an account. To do so, make sure you have your National Provider Identifier (NPI) number, Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) number, and State License Number (SLN). Initial registration is a two-step process and should take approximately 30 minutes: first, you will need to register in the CMS Enterprise Identity Management System (EIDM) and from there, you can register in the Open Payments system.
Physicians and teaching hospitals who registered last year do not need to reregister in the EIDM or the Open Payments system. If the account has been accessed within the last 60 days, go to the CMS Enterprise Portal, log in using your user ID and password, and navigate to the Open Payments system home page.
However, the EIDM locks accounts if there is no activity for 60 days or more. To unlock an account, go to the CMS Enterprise Portal, enter your user ID and correctly answer all challenge questions; you’ll then be prompted to enter a new password. The EIDM also deactivates accounts if there is no activity for 180 days or more. To reinstate an account that has been deactivated, contact the Open Payments Help Desk.
CMS Is Offering a Teleconference on the Review and Dispute Process
Join the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on April 13, 2017 for an informative session on the Open Payments Review and Dispute process.
This National Provider Call will provide physicians and teaching hospitals an opportunity to learn about the review and dispute process, including how to access the Open Payments system to review the accuracy of the data submitted before it is published on the CMS website.
A question and answer session will follow the presentation. Topics covered will include: overview of the Open Payments Program; Program Timeline; Registration Process; and critical deadlines for physicians and teaching hospitals.