Refresh of Open Payments Data – Dates to Remember

In January 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will publish a refresh of the Open Payments data. In preparation for the refresh, applicable manufacturers and group purchasing organizations (GPOs) are reminded that Friday, November 15, 2019 is the cut-off date to make corrections to undisputed records and to remove any previous requests for delay in publication in order for those changes to be reflected in the January data refresh.

Note: Corrections to records in response to active disputes can be made through December 31, 2019 in order to be included in the January data refresh.

Here is how the data will be displayed publicly in January 2020:

Changes to non-disputed records made on or before November 15, 2019, will be published.
Records with any active disputes that remain unresolved as of December 31, 2019, will display as disputed.
Records deleted before December 31, 2019, will be removed from publication.
Records deleted after December 31, 2019, will NOT be removed from publication until the next data publication in June 2020.
Records that were disputed and resolved as of December 31, 2019, will display the updated information and will not be marked as disputed.

The following will NOT be published in the January data refresh:

Any disputed records for which the dispute resolution resulted in a change to the covered recipient’s identifying information.
Any records submitted to the Open Payments system for the first time after the close of the Program Year 2018 submission window (March 31, 2019). These records will be published in a future data publication.

Additional information can be found on the Dispute and Correction page on the Open Payments website. For assistance with other aspects of the Open Payments system, please visit the Resources page on the Open Payments website.

(Back to top)

Open Payments Program Expansion – Final Rule Posted

On Friday November 1, CMS issued a final rule that includes updates to payment policies, payment rates, and quality provisions for services furnished under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) effective on or after January 1, 2020. The final rule also included several changes to the Open Payments Program.

Under this Final Rule the Open Payments program is impacted in the following ways:

The definition of a “covered recipient” is expanded to include five additional provider types. The added provider types are: physician assistants, nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, certified registered nurse anesthetists, and certified nurse midwives. This is in response to statutory changes included in the SUPPORT Act.
The Nature of Payment categories are updated to include three new categories: debt forgiveness, long term medical supply or device loan, and acquisitions. In addition, the two categories related to education programs will be combined into one.
Standardizing data on reported products by adding reporting requirements for the ‘device identifier’ component of the unique device identifier for devices and medical supplies.

Per the SUPPORT Act, the changes listed above apply to information required to be submitted on or after January 1, 2022. This will be effective for data collection beginning in calendar year 2021 as this is the data that will be reported to CMS in 2022.

CMS will offer further details in the coming months as information becomes available. Please continue to subscribe to the Open Payments email list and check the Open Payments website to stay up to date with the Open Payments program.

(Back to top)

Questions – Contact Live Help Desk

Submit questions to the Help Desk via email at openpayments@cms.hhs.gov or by calling 1-855-326-8366, (TTY Line: 1-844-649-2766) Monday through Friday, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (ET), excluding Federal holidays.

The Help Desk refers media inquiries to CMS’ Press Office for response.