September 13, 2013
Effective Aug. 1, vendors must report items gifted to dental providers that are equal to or exceed $10 in value, to be in compliance with new government rules and regulations. These items include dental/medical supplies, food, entertainment, gifts and travel. Drug samples intended exclusively for distribution to patients are excluded from the reporting requirements. At this time, it does not appear that tax documents will be issued as a result of this regulation, however, all data collected through this process will be made public on a Website.
Section 6002 of the Affordable Care Act enacted many changes in tax laws, one of which is the National Physician Payment Transparency Program (Open Payments). Open Payments requires that manufacturers/vendors of drugs, devices, biological and medical supplies report payments or transfers of value greater than or equal to $10 in a single transaction or an annual aggregate value exceeding $100 to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). This regulation affects all providers, regardless of whether they accept Medicare, Medicaid or CHP.
Reporting will always occur on the calendar year, however, data collection this year began on Aug. 1, and will continue through Dec. 31. Vendors are required to report the data to CMS no later than March 31, 2014. CMS will publish the reported data on a public Website by Sept. 30, 2014. Providers will have the opportunity to review and work with the vendors to make any corrections to the information before it is available to the public. CMS will give providers 45 days to review and correct the information. After the initial 45 days, vendors will have an additional 15 days to submit corrections. The review and correction period begins at least 60 days before the information is made public.
Providers are not required to register with CMS or send any information concerning Open Payments. Reporting is the responsibility of the vendor. For more information, visit http://go.cms.gov/openpayments (note: while the language references “physicians,” dentists are included in that umbrella term). Questions can be e-mailed to OpenPayments@cms.hhs.gov.