On April 12, 2013, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) created the “Open Payments” website where reported information under Section 6002 of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”), commonly referred to as the “Physician Payment Sunshine Act,” will be made available to the public. 

Section 6002 of the ACA (codified at 42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7h et seq.) for which CMS issued a final rule in early February 2013, located at 42 C.F.R. § 403.900 et seq., requires “applicable manufacturers” and “applicable GPOs” to begin reporting certain payments or transfers of value made to certain physicians and teaching hospitals on March 31, 2014. CMS will make this information available to the public through this website on September 1, 2014.  For more information on the final rule, please read an earlier Polsinelli e-Alert here.

While the Open Payments website does not yet contain any reported information, the website does provide a number of useful resources to assist applicable manufacturers and applicable GPOs (as well as teaching hospitals and physicians) in better understanding the final rule and its implications. These resources include the following: fact sheets; explanations of definitions and acronyms; CMS recommendations to applicable manufacturers, applicable GPOs, physicians and teaching hospitals; and a list of Frequently Asked Questions.

To access the Open Payments website and its resource materials, click here.