The Open Payments data is now updated to reflect changes to the data that took place since the June 2022 publication and is available here. The dataset is updated annually by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). This current dataset includes the following information: changes to non-disputed records made on of before November 15, 2022; updated information for dispute resolutions that were completed on or before December 31, 2022; and records deleted before December 31, 2022, were removed from the database.
Any records with an active dispute that was unresolved as of December 31, 2022, continues to show as disputed and records that were deleted after December 31, 2022, remain in the database but will be removed during the next data publication in June 2023.
Additionally, any records submitted to the Open Payments system for the first time after March 31, 2022, were not included in this refresh, nor were any records disputed and for which dispute resolution resulted in a change to the covered recipient.
Changes to 2021
Program Year 2021 was the first year of the Open Payments program expansion which added five additional provider types as covered recipients in the program: physician assistants, nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, certified registered nurse anesthetists and anesthesiologist assistants, and certified nurse midwives.
Program Year 2021 also saw updated Nature of Payment categories and new reporting requirements for the ‘device identifier’ component of the unique device identifier for medical devices. Additionally, CMS is now permitted to publish covered recipients’ National Provider Identifiers (NPIs).
Specifics and Historical Records
In 2021, the Open Payments data included $10.88 billion worth of transactions in 12.08 million records published. This is compared to $9.62 billion worth of transactions in 6.48 million records published in 2020 and $11.10 billion worth of transactions in 11.25 million records published in 2019.
In 2021, the Open Payments data included $2.55 billion in general payments, $7.07 billion in research payments, and $1.26 billion in ownership or investment interest. Broken down by recipient, 532,745 physicians were noted to receive payments ($2.03 billion of general payments, $66.09 million in research payments, and $1.26 billion in ownership or investment interest); 233,368 non-physician practitioners were noted to receive payments ($120.33 million in general payments and $423,392.27 in research payments); 1,234 teaching hospitals were noted to receive payments ($395.20 million in general payments and $1.60 billion in research payments); and 1,719 entities were noted to have made payments.