National Physician Payment Transparency Program: OPEN PAYMENTS

Creating Public Transparency of Industry-Physician Financial Relationships

The Official Website for National Physician Payment Transparency Program: OPEN PAYMENTS (Section 6002 of the Affordable Care Act)

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Overview

The National Physician Payment Transparency Program (OPEN PAYMENTS) creates greater transparency around the financial relationships of manufacturers, physicians, and teaching hospitals.  

The program requires that the following information is reported annually to CMS:

1. Transfers of value provided from applicable manufacturers of drugs, devices, biologics, or medical supplies covered by Medicare, Medicaid, or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), to physicians and teaching hospitals (known as “covered recipients”); and
2. Certain ownerships or investment interests by physicians or their immediate family members in applicable manufacturers and applicable group purchasing organizations (applicable GPOs).
CMS will collect this data, aggregate it, and publish it on a public website.

Why the OPEN PAYMENTS program Is Important

Collaboration among physicians, teaching hospitals, and industry manufacturers can contribute to the design and delivery of life-saving drugs and devices. However, while some collaboration is beneficial, payments from manufacturers to physicians and teaching hospitals can also introduce conflicts of interests.

While financial ties alone do not signify an inappropriate relationship, OPEN PAYMENTS is necessary to:
• Encourage transparency of reporting financial ties;
• Reveal the nature and extent of relationships;
• Prevent inappropriate influence on research, education, and clinical decision-making;
• Avoid conflicts of interest that can compromise clinical integrity and patient care; and
• Minimize risk of increased health care costs.

This program will be a national resource for beneficiaries, consumers, and providers to better understand relationships between physicians, teaching hospitals, and industry.

How the Program will Work

Applicable manufacturers and applicable GPOs can begin reporting financial relationship data on August 1, 2013. Applicable manufacturers and applicable GPOs will report the data for August through December of 2013 to CMS by March 31, 2014 and CMS will release the data publicly by September 30, 2014.  Beginning in 2014, they will be required to register on a CMS website, and will submit data using templates.

In 2014, physicians and teaching hospitals will be able to:

• Register to access their data prior to public posting;
• Initiate data disputes; and
• Work with applicable manufacturers and applicable GPOs on dispute resolution.

To ensure data accuracy, CMS is required to conduct audits of the data submitted and levy civil monetary penalties against applicable manufacturers and applicable GPOs for failing to submit data or submitting inaccurate data.

Your Open Payments Resource

CMS is committed to publishing the most accurate data possible, and supporting applicable manufacturers, applicable GPOs, and covered recipients for the OPEN PAYMENTS program.