How Your Providers Received Their TOV Payments

Open Payments is a national disclosure program created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and is a federally mandated program that collects and publishes information about payments that reporting entities make to covered recipients.

The program promotes transparency and accountability by helping consumers understand the financial relationships between pharmaceutical and medical device companies with:

• Physicians
• Physician Assistants
• Nurse Practitioners
• Clinical Nurse Specialists
• Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists
• Anesthesiologist Assistants
• Certified Nurse Midwives (collectively, Non-Physician Practitioners, or NPP)
• Teaching Hospitals

Based on data released in early 2026 for the 2024 program year (as 2025 data is not yet published), drug and medical device companies reported approximately $13.14 billion in payments or transfers of value to healthcare providers.

• Total Reported Value: ~$13.14 Billion
  • $3.31 billion in general payments
  • $8.49 billion in research payments
  • $1.34 billion in ownership/investment interest
• Categories: 65% for research, 25% for general payments (food, travel, consulting), and 10% for investments.
• Participants: Over 1,700 companies made payments to 651,817 physicians and 338,319 non-physician practitioners.
• Thresholds: For the 2025 calendar year, payments less than $13.46 are not reportable unless the aggregate annual amount exceeds $134.54. 

The most recent data highlights significant payments by major companies, including substantial research and general payments from Eli Lilly, Janssen (J&J), AbbVie, and Merck. 

Payment Types

General Payment

General Payments that are not associated with a research study.

Research Payment

Research Payments that are associated with a research study.

Associated Research

Associated Research Funding for a research project or study where the covered recipient is named as a principal investigator. This type of funding does not necessarily indicate that the covered recipient received direct funds from the reporting entity.

To varying degrees, the principal investigator may be involved with the research project/study. View the payment details for more information about a research payment’s covered recipient or principal investigator.

Ownership

Ownership and investment interest in companies describes the actual dollar amount invested and the value of the ownership or investment interest. Records may have one or both of these values associated with them.

For more information, see the Calendar Year 2025 Physician Fee Schedule.

Amount Invested

The AAmountInvested is the total dollar value of the ownership interest gained by the physician (or the physician’s immediate family members) in the Applicable Manufacturer or Applicable Group Purchasing Organization (GPO) during the reporting year only. The value reported is for the entire calendar year.

Value of Interest

Value of Interest is the current cumulative value of ownership or investment interest held by the physician (or the physician’s immediate family members) in the Applicable Manufacturer of Applicable GPO as of the most recent feasible valuation date preceding the reporting date.

Please note that this amount represents the cumulative current value of all ownership or investment interests held by the physician (or the physician’s immediate family members) in the Applicable Manufacturer or Applicable GPO.

Nature of Payment

Understanding the various types of payments that must be reported is essential when analyzing Open Payments data.

Acquisitions

Buyout payments are made to covered recipients with an ownership interest in an acquired company.

Example: A drug manufacturer buys a share of ownership in a company that is at least partially owned by a physician or a physician’s immediate family member.

Charitable contribution

A payment or transfer of value made to an organization with tax-exempt status under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

Charitable contributions do not include payments or transfers of value that would be more specifically described by another payment category.

Example: A medical device manufacturer donates funds to a teaching hospital to help pay for a health education program.

Compensation for non-consulting services (e.g., faculty/speaker at an event other than a continuing education program)

Includes payments that a company makes to physicians for speaking, training, and education engagements that are not for continuing education.

Compensation for serving as faculty or as a speaker for a medical education program

Compensation for serving as faculty or as a speaker for a medical education program.

Example: Drug company Y gives money to a teaching hospital to help pay for the hospital’s annual course for its physicians. The course is an update on the latest treatments for diseases.

Consulting fee

A payment that a company makes to a physician for advice and expertise about a medical product or treatment. Consulting fees are typically arranged with a written agreement between a company and a physician based on the Company’s business needs. These payments often vary depending on the consulting physician’s expertise.

Example 1: Company A has developed a drug to treat a particular disease and seeks physicians’ advice on designing an extensive study to test the drug in patients. Dr. J has many patients with this disease and has experience researching potential treatments. Company A asks Dr. J if she would spend about 10 hours per month working with other physicians to create a new research study. Dr. J agrees and is paid for her time.

Example 2: Company B has designed a new tool for surgeons during heart surgery. At its headquarters, it pays some physicians to give the tool a “test drive” on a computer-simulated patient. The physicians are paid an hourly fee to test the tool and provide feedback on improving it. They are also paid for flights, hotel rooms, and meals.

Example 3: Company C makes a drug and invites a physician who frequently prescribes it to speak to other physicians at a local restaurant about the medicine. The physician is paid for preparation time and the time spent giving the talk.

Current or prospective ownership or investment interest

Ownership or investment interest currently held by physicians and teaching hospitals, as well as ownership or investment interest that could potentially be held by physicians and teaching hospitals.

Example: Dr. M hears about a new antibiotic that Pharmaceutical Company F is developing. He thinks the drug might be successful and asks whether he can invest in Company F. Company F agrees, and Dr. M ultimately endorses F.

Debt forgiveness

Forgiving the debt of a covered recipient, a physician owner, or the physician’s immediate family.

Example: A physician owes Company A money for medical supplies. Company A forgives the debt, so the physician company can supply the supplies without payment.

Education

Payments or transfers of value for classes, activities, programs, or events that involve learning or teaching a professional skill. Examples include textbooks and medical journal articles.

Example: Companies that produce or sell drugs or devices for a particular medical condition may offer physicians free textbooks on the latest treatments.

Entertainment

Attendance at recreational, cultural, sporting, or other events would generally have a cost.

Example: A physician receives tickets to a local football game from a device manufacturer that owns season tickets.

Food and beverage

Example: A drug manufacturer’s salesperson asks to speak with a physician about a new drug. The salesperson and physician meet for lunch, and the salesperson pays for the meal.

Gift

A general category includes anything a company provides to a physician or teaching hospital that does not fit into another category.

Example: Promotional items such as clocks or flash drives with the company’s name printed on them.

Grant

A payment to a physician or teaching hospital to support a specific cause or activity.

Example: Company G is a medical device manufacturer. It has granted a teaching hospital funding for specialized training for physicians who want to learn more about performing surgeries with its device.

Honoraria

Similar to consulting fees, but generally reserved for a brief, one-time activity. Another distinction is that honoraria are atypically provided for services without a set price.

Example: A medical device manufacturer representative attends a medical meeting. During the meeting, the representative asks physicians to discuss features they want to see on a particular medical device for an hour. The representative pays each physician a one-time honorarium.

Long-term medical supply or device loan

The loan of supplies or a device for 91 days or longer.

Example: A device manufacturer lends one of its devices to a teaching hospital for 120 days.

Research

Research payments cover various activities, including physician enrollment in studies for new drugs or devices. They can include direct compensation to physicians, funding for research study coordination and implementation, or payments to study participants to cover study-related expenses.

Example: A physician wants to study treatments for a specific ailment. Pharmaceutical Company H is interested in the results and offers funds for the physician’s incentives to recruit participants.

Royalty or license

Payments are based on sales of products that use a physician’s intellectual property.

Example: A device manufacturer may promise a certain royalty payment – 1% of all device sales, for example – to a physician who worked with the device manufacturer to invent a new product.

Space rental or facility fees

Payments for renting a space or facility (such as a teaching hospital).

Example: A drug manufacturer wants to train physicians to administer a drug. The manufacturer pays a teaching hospital to reserve space within the hospital for the training.

Travel and lodging

Any compensation for costs associated with travel, such as hotel fees, airfare, mileage, and cab fare.

Example: A medical device company offers yearly training events for physicians to use its devices on patients. The company pays for the physicians’ and hotel rooms when they travel to its headquarters for the training.

Open Payments Data Collected

Field Name	Description
NPI	The cumulative value of ownership or investment interest held by the physician or immediate family member in the applicable manufacturer or applicable GPO in US dollars.
Value_of_Interest	The cumulative value of ownership or investment interest held by the physician or immediate family member in the applicable manufacturer or applicable GPO, in US dollars.
Total_Amount_of_Payment_USDollars	US dollar amount of payment or other transfer of value to the recipient (manufacturer must convert to dollar currency if necessary.)
Program_Year	The year the payment occurred, as reported by the submitting entity.
Number_of_Payments_Included_in_Total_Amount	The number of discrete payments being reported in the “Total Amount of Payment.”
Applicable_Manufacturer_or_Applicable_GPO_Making_Payment_Name	The textual proper name of the applicable manufacturer or applicable GPO making the payment or other transfer of value.
Name_of_Drug_or_Biological_or_Device_or_Medical_Supply_1	The marketed name of the drug, device, biological, or medical supply. May report the marketed name of up to five products (drugs, devices, biologicals, or medical supplies) associated with the payment or other transfer of value.
Form_of_Payment_or_Transfer_of_Value	The method of payment used to pay the covered recipient or to transfer value.
Nature_of_Payment_or_Transfer_of_Value	The nature of payment used to pay the covered recipient or to make the transfer of value.
Product_Category_or_Therapeutic_Area_1	Provide the product category or therapeutic area for the covered drug, device, biological, or medical supply listed concerning the payment or other transfer of value.
Name_of_Study	The textual name of the study for which the covered recipient is receiving this payment or other transfer of value. The textual name of the study for which the covered recipient is receiving this payment or other transfer of value.

The Open Payments Explained article provides detailed information about the Open Payments reporting process.