Open Payments is a national disclosure program that promotes transparency by publishing the financial relationships between the medical industry and healthcare providers (physicians and hospitals) on a publicly accessible website developed by the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Physicians should check data reported in the system on a routine basis to access accuracy of payments associated to them. Data is released to the public annually on or by June 30th and is refreshed at least once annually. Open Payments link can be found here: https://openpaymentsdata.cms.gov.
Open Payments Process
Types of Data Reported
Questions? CMS.GOV/OPENPAYMENTS | Email: openpayments@cms.hh.gov | 1-855-326-8366
Payments are reported across three major reporting categories:
- General Payments: Payments or other transfers of value made that are not in connection with a research agreement or research protocol.
- Research Payments: Payments or other transfers of value made in connection with a formal research agreement or research protocol.
- Physician Ownership Information: Information about the ownership or investment interests that physicians or their immediate family members have in the reporting entities.
CMS Open Payments Schedule
Please see the Open Payments Schedule below to understand key dates. The Open Payments program functions on a yearly cycle (January 1 through December 31) consisting of four key activities: (1) Data Collection; (2) Data Submission; (3) Pre-publication Review, Dispute and Correction; and (4) Data Publication. Open Payments link can be found here: https://openpaymentsdata.cms.gov.
Advanced Practice Providers
As of January 2021, CMS Open Payments will start posting data on the publicly accessible website for APNs, PAs, RNs. Follow the link for more information regarding APP's.