The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is reassuring physicians about Physician Payment Sunshine Act reporting, saying that reporting efforts involving connections between physicians and vendors will fall largely on the shoulders of the vendors, rather than on physicians. But that's not the only issue that worries docs. Once the Sunshine data becomes public, they are concerned that it may be incorrectly interpreted by consumers and the media, leading to unwarranted witch hunts. At the AMA's House of Delegates meeting in Chicago, pediatrician Lynda Young said "The media can really sensationalize this," worrying that when information goes public, "the media jumps on it."
The Sunshine Act (Section 6002 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) is being rebranded by CMS as the "Open Payment Program," according to a June 20 article in Modern Healthcare. Quoting Dr. Shantanu Agrawal, director of the CMS data-sharing and partnership group, the agency wants to create a national transparency program for payments to physicians and teaching hospitals by drug and medical-device manufacturers and group purchasing organizations. According to Agrawal, pharmaceutical companies spent $15.7 billion in 2011 on face-to-face sales and promotional activities. But companies like Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline have reported reductions in spending to attract doctors.
The law kicks in August 1, requiring drug and device companies to start tracking transfers of anything valued at more than $10. Physicians will be able to see what has been reported about them in the second quarter of 2014, and reports will become public on Septenver 30 of that year.
CarePrecise.com supplies accurate physician databases used by drug and device manufacturers in their Sunshine Act tracking programs.
Showing posts with label sunshine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sunshine. Show all posts
June 20, 2013
May 21, 2013
Free Webinar on Sunshine Law
The federal National Physician Payment Transparency Program, variously know as NPPTP, Open Payments, and Sunshine Law, requires collection of information by the healthcare industry as of August 1, 2013. Getting ready for that yet? How about some help?
A free webinar is being offered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on Wednesday, May 22, 2013 titled "National Provider Call: National Physician Payment Transparency Program (OPEN PAYMENTS) - What You Need To Know."
Topics include:
Speakers will be Dr. Shantanu Agrawal, Director, Data Sharing & Partnership Group, and Anita Griner, Deputy Director, Data Sharing & Partnership Group.
A free webinar is being offered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on Wednesday, May 22, 2013 titled "National Provider Call: National Physician Payment Transparency Program (OPEN PAYMENTS) - What You Need To Know."
Topics include:
- Overview of final rule
- Review key program dates
- Your role
- Resources available to you
Speakers will be Dr. Shantanu Agrawal, Director, Data Sharing & Partnership Group, and Anita Griner, Deputy Director, Data Sharing & Partnership Group.
February 8, 2013
Exchange and Medicaid IT Contract Tracker
State Refor(u)m has created a chart that tracks states' choices of firms to build health insurance exchanges and Medicaid systems, with details on technical roles performed by vendors and on some of the software components vendors will use. The chart was produced by the Office of Health Policy and Technology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. States can help State Refor(u)m keep the tool updated by using the page's comments section to post information about similar contracts awarded in their states.
Visit the Exchange and Medicaid Systems Contracts Chart to see who's doing what on whose project, and to add your own.
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CarePrecise is a sponsor of Big Data for Healthcare Forum, April 29 - May 1, 2013. Join us there!
CarePrecise provides healthcare provider information to state insurance exchanges, health information exchanges, Sunshine Act programs, healthcare fraud investigations and other state and federal healthcare projects.
Visit the Exchange and Medicaid Systems Contracts Chart to see who's doing what on whose project, and to add your own.
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CarePrecise is a sponsor of Big Data for Healthcare Forum, April 29 - May 1, 2013. Join us there!
May 7, 2012
The Sunshine List
As lawmakers continue to push CMS to implement the Physician Payments Sunshine Act, and CMS mildly demurs out of concern that drug and equipment manufacturers won't be able to comply any time soon, CarePrecise has been busy getting prepared for a run on the databank.
As most of the players are beginning to realize, an accurate and up-to-date source of provider information will be a necessity in reporting payments properly. The CarePrecise master provider list contains all the hooks required to positively identify specific providers, and connects provider licensing and NPI numbers to such pertinent information as PECOS enrollment, Medicare billing eligibility, and the Office of Inspector General's excluded providers database. The current version of the CarePrecise Access Complete database identifies multiple providers practicing at a single location, using super-conformed location coding.
CarePrecise data is already in use is installations where states have various types of Sunshine laws in place, and where organizations are preparing for the federal act to take effect. When we can all finally see who's paying what to whom (to whatever extent that will be truly possible), CarePrecise data will be part of this vital next step in controlling healthcare costs and abuses of influence.
As most of the players are beginning to realize, an accurate and up-to-date source of provider information will be a necessity in reporting payments properly. The CarePrecise master provider list contains all the hooks required to positively identify specific providers, and connects provider licensing and NPI numbers to such pertinent information as PECOS enrollment, Medicare billing eligibility, and the Office of Inspector General's excluded providers database. The current version of the CarePrecise Access Complete database identifies multiple providers practicing at a single location, using super-conformed location coding.
Sunshine Incoming
CarePrecise can process incoming lists of payments to providers using the advanced record-linking technology we use to build our master databases. Whether companies have NPI numbers or not, our system can use other data to identify payees.
CarePrecise data is already in use is installations where states have various types of Sunshine laws in place, and where organizations are preparing for the federal act to take effect. When we can all finally see who's paying what to whom (to whatever extent that will be truly possible), CarePrecise data will be part of this vital next step in controlling healthcare costs and abuses of influence.
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