News Feature | July 31, 2013

Mobile App Allows Providers Easier Access To Finances

Source: Health IT Outcomes
Katie Wike

By Katie Wike, contributing writer

mHealth

Apps created by CMS as part of the Open Payments Program give providers access to financial transaction information 24 hours a day via mobile devices

Section 6002 of the Affordable Care Act requires the establishment of a transparency program, now known as Open Payments. In an effort to help providers meet that requirement and create “greater transparency around the financial relationships of manufacturers, physicians, and teaching hospitals,” CMS developed the Open Payments Program.

Recently, CMS announced it has released a mobile application to assist physicians with tracking and reviewing data for the OPEN PAYMENTS program. The app is intended to help reporting entities and physicians track payment information more accurately by making tracking easier throughout the year. Use of the app is optional and completely voluntary, and is are available for download now for Apple and Android mobile phones.

The app, OPEN PAYMENTS Mobile for Physicians, will be ready for information collection beginning August 1, 2013. According to EHR Intelligence, the app will be used for “tracking payments and other transfers of value received from their health care industry affiliations in real-time, as they occur; transferring user profile and high level information associated with the event or situation in which the ‘transfer of value’ occurred between physicians and industry; and storing personal contact information.”

In a press release from CMS, Dr. Peter Budetti, CMS program integrity director, said “CMS’ foray into mobile technology is about providing user-friendly tools for doctors, manufacturers, and others in the healthcare industry to use in working with us to implement the law in a smart way. (This app is) an innovation option for doctors and industry to accurately and securely track their financial ties and other transfers of values as required under this important transparency program.”

For more on OPEN PAYMENTS Mobile for Physicians, as well as OPEN PAYMENTS Mobile for Industry, check out the Open Payments Mobile for Physicians & Open Payments Mobile for Industry FAQs.