The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is hosting a live open forum to get input from physicians and other stakeholders on future improvements to the Open Payments program. The live forum will be held by conference call on Tuesday, August 2, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., PST.

Under the Sunshine Act, drug and medical device manufacturers are required to report their financial interactions with licensed physicians – including consulting fees, travel reimbursements, research grants and other gifts. Any payments, ownership interests and other “transfers of value” are reported to CMS for publication in a public online database.

According to CMS, a number of areas for improvement have already been identified from stakeholder input. For details on the specific areas for which CMS is seeking comment, see the Solicitation of Public Comment, published in the Federal Register as part of the proposed 2017 Medicare physician payment rule.

If you cannot attend but would still like to submit comments, you may do so through the contact in the rule or to OpenPaymentsComments@cms.hhs.gov. Comments must be submitted by September 6, 2016.

To participate in the discussion, participants should dial (800) 837-1935 and use 44678813 as the conference ID number.

A transcript and audio recording of this program will be posted following the live call to the Special Open Door Forum website for downloading.

If you have any questions about the Open Payments data, website or how to report, contact the Open Payments Help Desk via email at openpayments@cms.hhs.gov or by calling (855) 326-8366, Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST (6 a.m. to 2 p.m. PST), excluding federal holidays.