On May 3, 2012, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) officially announced that it will delay data-collection and reporting requirements under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) Physician Payments Sunshine Act (the “Sunshine Act”), due in part to the large number of comments received in response to CMS’s December 19, 2011, proposed rules. Data collection by CMS will not start until at least January 1, 2013.
The Sunshine Act imposes two reporting requirements:
- Covered manufacturers must annually report payments or gifts to physicians or teaching hospitals; and
- Covered manufacturers and group purchasing organizations must annually report physician ownership and investment interests.
Although the Sunshine Act does not require report submissions until March 31, 2013, the first reporting period will cover payments made during fiscal year 2012. Thus, even though CMS will not promulgate final rules until later this year, covered manufacturers and group may want to create internal procedures to collect the necessary data as soon as possible.