The Open Payments system has been temporarily taken offline because of technical glitches that have called into question the accuracy of reported data.
"After an assessment of the data resulting from a complaint, we discovered that a limited number of physician payment records submitted by at least one manufacturer incorrectly contained information about other physicians," officials at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said in a statement. "CMS takes physician privacy very seriously and we have taken the system offline temporarily and will work with the industry to eliminate incorrect payment records."
The Open Payments Program, created under the Affordable Care Act, aims to increase transparency about financial relationships between the drug, device, and biological industry and physicians and teaching hospitals. Under the program, the industry reports payment data, which can be reviewed and disputed by physicians and teaching hospitals. The goal was for the agency to release the data to the public on Sept. 30.
Agency officials first took the website offline on Aug. 3. On Aug. 7, CMS officials sent an e-mail announcing that physicians and representatives from teaching hospitals would be unable to register or review data while the system was offline. Officials pledged that for each day the system was offline, the agency would accordingly adjust the deadlines for reviews and disputes, and the following 15-day corrections period.
Agency officials found that at least one manufacturer submitted incorrect data by matching the name, address, and National Provider Identifier of a physician with the wrong state medical license. Though the medical license was valid, it belonged to another physician with the same first and last names.
Once that information was entered into the Open Payments website, the system combined the data, allowing one of the physicians to see all the payments, including those made to the other physician.
CMS officials contend the problem is limited to a small number of physicians, but in an effort to keep physicians from viewing another provider’s information, they are temporarily suspending registration in the program and the ability to review data. They have not announced an estimate for when the system will be back online.
mschneider@frontlinemedcom.com
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