Providers can keep their own records of outside payments with mobile phone applications now that CMS has started collecting payment data from device and pharmaceuticals manufacturers.
CMS finalized the Sunshine Act earlier this year, requiring manufacturers’ and group purchasing organizations’ payments and other goods or services valued at more than $10 made to physicians be reported annually to HHS and publicly posted on a public website. (
Medical Practice Compliance Alert subscribers - see your February 18, 2013 issue.) Data collection started Aug. 1 and ends on Dec. 31 for 2013 but manufacturers must report all payments by March 31, 2014.
“Although physicians themselves are not required to report anything, they can use the mobile apps to help them track and ensure accuracy of information on their financial relationships that will be reported by industry,” CMS says in its
newly released FAQs on the app.
Providers can download either the apps for iPhone™ (iOS 6.0 or higher) or Android-based phones (2.3.3 or higher) to create a password-protected profile with your name, national provider identifier (NPI), business address and other contact information.
For more on how to use the apps, see Medical Practice Compliance Alert.