Understanding the data

What Open Payments does not tell youThe five things people routinely misread in doctor payment data, and what each figure actually measures.How to check if your doctor takes pharma moneyA plain-English walkthrough of looking up a physician, reading the payment categories, and knowing which numbers matter.The Sunshine Act, explainedWhy drug and device makers must report almost every payment to a physician, what counts, what is exempt, and how the data gets published.Where these numbers come from, and how they are processedEvery source file, every join, every judgement call — and the errors we have found in our own work.Research payments are not marketing paymentsWhy the largest dollar figures in Open Payments usually mean a clinical trial, not a sales relationship.What Medicare billing data cannot tell youAllowed amounts are not income, not prices, and not most of a practice's patients. What the figures actually cover.