August 27 is the deadline to complete a two-phase registration process necessary to review data on payments or other transfers of value from pharmaceutical and medical device companies and dispute any errors with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The collection and reporting of these data are required under the Physician Payment Sunshine Act, part of the Affordable Care Act. To make registration and review of data as easy as possible for its members, APA has posted a number of resources on its website. Registration is voluntary, but it is required to review the data and dispute any inaccuracies."I urge you to visit APA's website as soon as possible and complete the three-step verification and registration process to review your data," said APA CEO and Medical Director Saul Levin, M.D., M.P.A. "Registration is rather cumbersome and identity verification can take some time, so be sure to act now."While the initial review-and-dispute period ends August 27, physicians still have until December 31 to dispute 2013 data, but disputes will not be flagged in the public database until 2015.(image: Juergen Faelchle/shutterstock)
