New app helps doctors track Sunshine Law reports

Doctors anxious about the Sunshine Act can download a new app to see exactly how the reporting process will work before results go public next year.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released two new mobile apps called Open Payments-one for physicians, and one for healthcare industry users- to help healthcare providers to be more aware of transactions being reported for the upcoming Sunshine Act.

The Open Payments app for physicians will allow them to track real-time payments and other value transfers to drug and device manufacturers. Physicians will be able to create a profile and keep track of any discrepancies in reporting.

The app for industry users, including hospitals and institutions, will have the same features as the physicians' app, but will also be able to store physician profiles.

The apps are being released in time for implementation of the Physician Payments Sunshine Act, also called the Open Payments program. The provision, a part of the Affordable Care Act, mandates that pharmaceutical and medical device companies report financial relationships with physicians, hospitals and other healthcare businesses that amount to more than $100 a year. Companies will begin reporting financial information on August 1, 2013. The list in its entirety will be published annually in September 2014 via an Open Payments website facilitated by CMS. Physicians are not required to report payments, and using the app is not mandated by the Sunshine Act.

Both apps are available for free through the iOS Apple Store for iPhone and iPad users and the Google Play Store for Android devices.

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