CMS has taken the Open Payments system offline temporarily “to investigate a reported issue,” according to a recent CMS email announcement.  As a result, physicians, teaching hospitals, and authorized representatives may not register and review data related to payments by applicable manufacturers and applicable group purchasing organizations at this time. The shut-down of the system reportedly results from the discovery of errors in payments attributed to a doctor, which underscores the importance of careful review of system data during the dispute and correction period. While this window was scheduled to run through August 27, 2014, CMS stated in its email that it will extend the Open Payments review and dispute deadline and the following 15-day corrections period deadline for each day the Open Payments system is offline.