About Open Payments Database

What the Open Payments Database Is

Open Payments is a federal programme administered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. It requires manufacturers of drugs, medical devices and biologicals to report payments and transfers of value they make to physicians and teaching hospitals, which CMS then publishes in a database the public can search.

Reportable items include consulting fees, speaking fees, research payments, travel and lodging, food and beverage, gifts, and ownership or investment interests.

Why This Notice Appears Here

Publishing a notice of this kind is a transparency practice. It tells patients the database exists, that their physician's entries can be looked up, and where to look.

A listing in the database is not an indication of wrongdoing. Interaction between physicians and manufacturers is ordinary and often necessary: physicians attend training on devices they use, participate in research, and speak at professional meetings. The purpose of the database is to make these relationships visible so patients can see them, not to imply that they are improper.

How to Look Up a Physician

The CMS Open Payments search tool is free and requires no registration. Searching by physician name and state returns reported payments by year, with the reporting manufacturer, the amount and the category of payment.

Two points help when reading the results. The database reports by calendar year with a lag, so the most recent year may not yet appear. And the value recorded for items such as meals at a professional meeting reflects a per-attendee cost rather than a payment made to the physician.

Patients who have questions about anything they find are welcome to raise them directly at a consultation.

Related Information

How the practice handles personal information is set out in the privacy policy, and the accessibility statement covers accessibility commitments.

Background on Dr. William Harris, including training and credentials, is on his profile page, and the about our practice page covers the practice generally. Questions can be sent through the contact page.