Data Analysis
Industry Payments to Physicians: 2018–2024 Trends
Since the Physician Payments Sunshine Act took effect, CMS has published annual disclosures of industry payments to physicians and teaching hospitals. This analysis tracks national trends in total payment amounts, number of physicians receiving payments, and number of companies making payments from 2018 through 2024. Over this period, the database records $16,410,734,491 in total industry payments.
Context: Industry payments to physicians are legally required to be disclosed under the Physician Payments Sunshine Act.
Receiving payments does not imply wrongdoing. Payments may reflect consulting expertise, research participation, or speaking engagements.
This data is provided to support transparency, not to render clinical judgments.
Industry Payments by Year — National Totals (2018–2024)
CMS Open Payments| # | Year | Total Payments | Doctors Paid | Companies Paying | Transactions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2018 | $2,255,631,450 | 630,036 | 1,672 | 10,881,148 |
| 2 | 2019 | $2,417,361,479 | 623,511 | 1,721 | 10,503,087 |
| 3 | 2020 | $1,673,227,354 | 488,180 | 1,681 | 5,804,342 |
| 4 | 2021 | $2,243,140,804 | 766,366 | 1,756 | 11,497,463 |
| 5 | 2022 | $2,712,205,895 | 863,007 | 1,795 | 13,254,980 |
| 6 | 2023 | $2,471,132,896 | 929,741 | 1,703 | 14,564,115 |
| 7 | 2024 | $2,638,034,613 | 979,136 | 1,729 | 15,336,988 |
National payment context
CMS Open PaymentsThe median provider among the 1,571,086 with at least one disclosed payment received $339 in total industry payments — a skewed distribution in which a small share of providers accounts for most of the $16,205,257,917 total.
Top paying companies nationwide
| Company | Total payments | Providers paid | Transactions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stryker Corporation | $734,658,380 | 80,292 | 834,479 |
| Arthrex, Inc. | $638,296,788 | 14,217 | 260,313 |
| Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. | $592,296,968 | 62,640 | 386,078 |
| DePuy Synthes Products, Inc. | $504,652,233 | 1,059 | 13,680 |
| Medtronic, Inc. | $483,045,900 | 163,455 | 1,194,058 |
| PFIZER INC. | $452,105,129 | 322,554 | 2,963,600 |
| ABBVIE INC. | $388,137,317 | 345,178 | 4,526,193 |
| AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP | $294,468,981 | 284,164 | 3,118,947 |
| Intuitive Surgical, Inc. | $263,711,880 | 36,056 | 497,505 |
| Boston Scientific Corporation | $248,780,517 | 158,950 | 1,015,046 |
Industry payments by nature of payment (national)
| Nature of payment | Total amount | Transactions |
|---|---|---|
| Compensation for services other than consulting, including serving as faculty or as a speaker at a venue other than a continuing education program | $4,301,141,335 | 5,682,809 |
| Royalty or License | $3,949,322,150 | 228,549 |
| Consulting Fee | $3,197,636,257 | 2,717,637 |
| Food and Beverage | $1,698,889,919 | 68,323,845 |
| Acquisitions | $1,137,806,126 | 6,257 |
| Travel and Lodging | $481,586,445 | 2,333,345 |
| Education | $437,666,771 | 1,404,668 |
| Honoraria | $364,674,375 | 403,141 |
Methodology
National totals aggregated from all CMS Open Payments records in the doctransparency.com database, covering program years 2018–2024. Includes all payment categories across all states. Doctor counts reflect distinct NPIs receiving at least one payment in a given program year. Data source: CMS Open Payments, accessed via doctransparency.com database.