OPS proposal
Assessment
OPS proposal procedure
Processing of an OPS proposal (application)
All proposals submitted by the deadline are revised by the BfArM in an elaborate editing and coordination process, expanded or reduced if necessary, and reissued in the fall of each year. This process involves all stakeholders in the payment system. On April 28, 2020, procedural rules were issued that explain all process steps in great detail.
NEW: Under § 3 para. 4 – Submission of proposals, it is mentioned that all submitted proposals will now be published on the BfArM pages while the proposal process is still ongoing. Everyone is now entitled to submit a statement on individual proposals. This statement, which must be substantiated in detail, must be sent to the BfArM by May 10 of each year. This procedure was introduced in particular to give participating professional societies the opportunity to react to certain developments in a timely manner.
Entry phase (beginning of December until end of February)
During this phase, proposals can be submitted to the BfArM by professional societies, professional associations, organizations or individuals.
Preparation phase (beginning of March to end of April)
Once the proposals have been received, they are first screened and processed. In addition, the comments of the professional societies will be completed.
Meeting and processing phase (end of April to July/August)
After this preparation, the ICD and OPS working groups discuss the proposals under the leadership of the BfArM. After consultation with the professional societies and developers of payment systems and quality assurance systems, the BfArM prepares the proposals accordingly. The deadline for reaching consensus (in the event of conflicting opinions) is May 10.
Production and publication phase Preliminary version (July/August)
The production phase begins with the completion of the databases, followed by the production and quality assurance of the various formats of the preliminary version. Mid-August: Preliminary version Systematic Directory of the OPS.
Final and decision phase (August/September)
During this phase, final reconciliations and decisions are made and final changes are incorporated by payment system developers and policymakers. The databases are updated accordingly.
Production and publication phase Final version (October to November)
October: Production and quality assurance of the various formats for the final version of the Systematic and Alphabetical Index of the OPS. Publication: end of October/beginning of November.