If you've received financial support from a company for research activities, gifts, or other activities, you know that companies are required to report this support. But, did you know that this information will be published by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) through its Open Payments system at the end of June?
If you want to review the information these companies have submitted concerning 2014 payments and other transfers of value to you, you have until May 20 to do so, according to a report from ADA News. The information will then be posted publically on June 30 on CMS' Open Payments website.
The Social Security Act requires CMS to collect and report this data with the goal of encouraging financial transparency in payments and transfers of value to physicians. For CMS, the definition of physician includes medical doctors, dentists, podiatrists, chiropractors, and others.
As of December 2014, the total value of Open Payments was $3.7 billion from 4.45 million records, including from dentists, physicians, and other healthcare practitioners, according to a CMS report available here.
