Wednesday, September 10 is the last day that physicians can review and if necessary dispute their financial interactions as reported under the Physician Payments Sunshine Act.

The Sunshine Act is a provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that requires drug and medical device manufacturers and group purchasing organizations (GPOs) 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” will be reported to CMS for publication in an online database. This data will be made public via the Open Payments website beginning on September 30.

Physicians should be aware that there is a two-step registration process for the Open Payments program. The first step requires physicians to register at the CMS Enterprise Portal, a step many physicians may have already completed as the gateway enables access to a number of other CMS programs. Step two is to register in CMS’ Open Payments system.

Physicians and authorized representatives can submit questions to the CMS Help Desk at openpayments@cms.hhs.gov. Live Help Desk support is also available by calling (855) 326-8366, Monday through Friday, from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Central time, excluding Federal holidays.