CMS Releases Open Payments Improvements

By Katie Wike, contributing writer

Open Payments now features a search tool designed to help users navigate the website.

After a series of problems with the Open Payments, CMS has released a search tool that will make it easier for users to find information among the $3.5 billion in payments over the last five months.

According to the Wall Street Journal, before this new feature was introduced, users had to scroll through spreadsheets to find information on physician payments. “There was no conventional search box, just one of limited utility that was embedded in the spreadsheet. It was virtually impossible to get a list of every payment to a particular doctor in one place,” notes the WSJ.

According to iHealth Beat, this new feature will allow users to search for records by name, location, and specialty. The results of such a search will appear organized from high to low or low to high. Users can also sort payments by:

● general payments, which also lists the "nature of payment," such as food and beverage, education, etc.
● research payments
● ownership in companies

“CMS is providing a simple-to-use search tool and asking for your feedback on ways to improve it,” the agency says. “Upon performing a search, the returned results will include all three payment types … on one screen.”

“With the addition of this new search tool, we are also providing more detailed information on the data released, including updating the data about the company that made the payment, giving researchers and consumers more granular information,” said CMS in a statement.

The agency explains that the changes will appear after a “refresh” of the website on or before Dec. 31. It will continue to develop the search tool in coming weeks to include more functionality, says the WSJ including displays of summary data, charts, graphs, and more detailed data.