Report: Error messages rife on site showing doc, industry ties

A long-awaited federal database designed to reveal doctor payments from the drug and medical device industries is plagued with confusing error messages, according to a report.

Physicians told ProPublica that they are seeing long waits and error messages when trying to look up their entries on a preliminary version of the Open Payments website.

“Doctors say it is taking them as long as an hour, sometimes longer, to verify their identifies and log in,” reported Charles Ornstein with ProPublica.

Those who make it through the system and do not have relationships with industry are reportedly met with the message: “You have the following errors on the page. There are no results that match the specified search criteria.”

A spokesman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said the message indicates the doctor has not reportable ties to drug and device manufacturers.

The website will be made public later this year as part of ObamaCare’s “Sunshine Act” provision, which requires that drug, device and biologic companies tell federal health officials about payments and gifts to doctors.

The law orders this information to be publicly accessible online.