CMS says payments database is "first wave"

CMS released what it called its "first wave" of its Open Payments database, which details consulting fees, research grants, travel reimbursements, and "other" gifts healthcare companies provided to physicians and teaching hospitals during the last five months of 2013.

Open Payments, mandated by the Physician Payments Sunshine Act -- part of the Affordable Care Act -- contains 4.4 million payments valued at nearly $3.5 billion to 546,000 physicians and about 1,360 teaching hospitals, according to the Medicare agency. ...