What is Open Payments?
Open Payments is a national disclosure program that promotes a more transparent and accountable health care system. Open Payments houses a publicly accessible database of payments that reporting entities, including drug and medical device companies, make to covered recipients like physicians.
Please note that CMS does not comment on what relationships may be beneficial or potential conflicts of interest. CMS publishes the data attested to by reporting entities. The data is open to individual interpretation.
Explore the database at OpenPaymentsData.cms.gov.
Read the Open Payments 2020 Annual Report to Congress (PDF).
Open Payments – New Feature Video
Open Payments has released a new, short video to show how Open Payments works, what’s in the data, and how to use the search tool.
Check out the video to learn more!
Open Payments Program Year 2020 Data Now Available!
The Program Year 2020 (January 1, 2020–December 31, 2020) Open Payments data is now available! For Program Year 2020, CMS published $9.12 billion in payments and ownership and investment interests. This amount is comprised of 6.38 million total records attributable to 487,000 physicians and 1,200 teaching hospitals.
Explore the data at OpenPaymentsData.cms.gov!
Program Expansion
Open Payments has expanded to include five new covered recipient types. Learn more on the Newly Added Covered Recipients page.
For information about changes that will affect Applicable Manufacturers and Group Purchasing Organizations, visit the Changes for Reporting Entities page.
Open Payments Proposed Final Rule Changes
Open Payments proposed several updates to the program regulations. The proposed changes are included on page 39333 of the 2022 Physician Fee Schedule proposed rule and are available for public review and comment until September 13, 2021.
See the Federal Register for details.
How does Open Payments work?
Every year, Open Payments data is collected, submitted, reviewed, and published.
- Data Collection: January 1 – December 31
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Reporting entities collect data about payments they’ve made to covered recipients from January 1 through December 31 each year. This includes any ownership or investment interests that physicians or physicians’ immediate family members have held with the reporting entity during that time. Learn more about the Natures of Payment that must be reported.
- Data Submission: February 1 – March 31
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Reporting entities submit data collected during the previous calendar year to CMS.
- Pre-Publication Review, Dispute, and Correction of Data: April 1 – May 30
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Pre-publication review and dispute occurs annually from April 1 through May 15. This gives covered recipients 45 days between April 1 – May 15 to review data attributed to them before the data is published. If a covered recipient believes a record is inaccurate, they can initiate a dispute and work directly with the reporting entity to resolve the dispute before the data becomes public; CMS does not mediate disputes.
Reporting entities may resolve disputes throughout the Pre-publication review and dispute period and have an additional 15-day correction period from May 15-30 to correct any outstanding disputed records. During this time, reporting entities respond to disputes initiated during the pre-publication review and dispute period and make any necessary changes before the data is published.
Although pre-publication review and dispute is voluntary, CMS strongly encourages covered recipients to review data and ensure that it’s accurate.
- Data Publication: On or by June 30
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CMS publishes the data annually on or by June 30. The data is available at OpenPaymentsData.cms.gov.
Learn more about Open Payments and what it means to you.
Natures of Payment
Learn more about the Natures of Payment that are reported to CMS through Open Payments.
Law & Policy
Learn about reporting requirements and the history of the Open Payments program on the Law and Policy page.
Program Participants
Learn about roles and responsibilities within Open Payments on the Program Participants page.