Information is now available online for 11.4 million financial transactions paid by drug 
and medical device suppliers to 600,000 physicians and 1,100 teaching hospitals. The payments total $6.49 billion.
The data, gathered in 2014, was published by The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as part of its Open Payments program, and can be downloaded or searched online.
The Open Payments program, created by the Affordable Care Act, requires drug and device manufacturers to report fees, honoraria and research grants to health care providers. Health care providers must also report industry-related investments they may have.
Dr. Shantanu Agrawal, CMS deputy administrator and director the agency’s Center for program Integrity, said the aim of the Open Payments program is to provide information for people who want to view financial transactions involving doctors, hospitals, and drug and medical device makers.
The program relies on voluntary participation by doctors and hospitals to review the information submitted by the companies. The healthcare providers reviewed about 30 % of the total value of the reported data.
CMS said it will update the Open Payments data at least annually. It will publish an update to the 2014 financial data in early 2016.
