Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Open Payments

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Open Payments report says that U.S. doctors and research hospitals collected nearly $6.5 billion in payments for services rendered to pharmaceutical and medical-device companies in 2014.

General payments can include such costs as travel, lodging,  food and beverages for physicians and hospital executives.

To take one example reported by Reuters: “MD Anderson Cancer Center, widely considered to be the nation’s top cancer research facility, collected $92.7 million in research payments along with $12.4 million in general payments. Its largest payment of more than $2.9 million in royalty or license fees came from medical equipment maker Siemens Medical Solutions.”