Second Year of Sunshine Act Data Submission Begins
Second Year of Data Submission Begins
Beginning February 2, 2015, applicable manufacturers and applicable group purchasing organizations (GPOs) will be able to register or recertify their registration in the Open Payments system and begin data submission for any payments or transfers of value that occurred in the 2014 calendar year. All applicable manufacturers and GPOs must register or recertify their registration. Applicable manufacturers and GPOs can now submit corrected 2013 data (if needed) and submit their 2014 data to the Open Payments system. March 31, 2015, is the deadline for all submissions. Physicians and teaching hospitals may also now register in the system so they can be prepared to review any data that may be submitted about them. The review and dispute period for physicians and teaching hospitals is anticipated to start in April.
This constitutes the second year of Open Payments data submission, and supports CMS’ ongoing efforts to increase transparency and accountability in healthcare.
CMS released the first year of Open Payments data on September 30, 2014, to help consumers understand the financial relationships between the healthcare industry, and physicians and teaching hospitals. This release was part of the Open Payments program, created by the Affordable Care Act, and lists consulting fees, research grants, travel reimbursements, and other gifts to the healthcare industry — such as medical device manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies — provided to physicians and teaching hospitals during the last five months of calendar year 2013. The 2013 data contained 4.45 million payments valued at nearly $3.7 billion.
CMS plans to publish the 2014 payment data and make any applicable updates to the 2013 data in June 2015. More information about the Open Payments is available at www.cms.gov/openpayments.
Questions — Contact Live Help Desk
For more information about Open Payments, please visit the Open Payments website and sign up for the Open Payments listserv. If you have any questions, you can submit an email to the Help Desk at openpayments@cms.hhs.gov.
Live Help Desk support is available by calling 1 (855) 326-8366, Monday through Friday, from 7:30am to 6:30pm (CT), excluding federal holidays. Peak Help Desk call time is between 11:00am and 2:00pm (CT), although average wait time is usually short even during peak call time.
The Help Desk refers media inquiries back to CMS’ Press Office for response.