Physician Payments Sunshine Act: What anesthesiologists need to do before the data goes public

The Physician Payments Sunshine Act does not impose any tasks on physicians, according to an Anesthesia Business Consultants blog post, however, physicians and anesthesiologists should take the advantage of the option to verify the information that will be posted under their name in the Open Payments System before publication.

Physicians can review and dispute the data in the system. Here are the three steps they need to take before disputing:

1. Complete CMS' e-verification process via the CMS Enterprise Portal (EIDM).
2. Register in CMS' Open Payments System via EIDM as quickly as possible, but no later than Sept. 3.
3. Review your data by Sept. 8.

Physicians can then dispute the data if it is wrong. Industry organizations either will correct disputed data, or, if not corrected right away, that data will be marked as disputed when it is released to the public.

CMS is scheduled to make data received from medical device and pharmaceutical manufacturers concerning payments to physicians available to the public on Sept. 30, according to the blog post.

More articles on anesthesia:

Great Falls Clinic names Dr. Mitch McKamey director of anesthesiology
Dr. Bryan Terry wins Republican primary for Tennessee House of Representatives
Less opioid use, faster pediatric knee surgery recovery with regional anesthesia, study finds