A Nine-Year Investigation of Industry Research and Nonresearch Payments to Emergency Physicians in the United States Between 2014 and 2022

Abstract

BackgroundFinancial relationships between physicians and the health care industry are common in the United States. Yet, there are limited data on payments to emergency physicians since the 2014 launch of the Open Payments Database. ObjectivesTo analyze the trends and characteristics of industry payments to U.S. emergency physicians from 2014 to 2022. MethodsThis retrospective study used the Open Payments Database to examine all general and research payments to all active emergency physicians. Descriptive statistics and generalized estimating equations were employed. ResultsBetween 2014 and 2022, 50.1% (33,021) of emergency physicians received $640.1 million in payments. Of these, 50.1% received general payments, and 1.2% received research payments. General payments constituted 18.7% ($119.7 million) of the overall industry payments. Median general and research payments were $149 ($49–$401) and $72,083 ($13,903–$370,142), respectively. Compared with other specialties, fewer emergency physicians received general payments, and the amounts were lower. The top 1% of emergency physicians received 80.5% of the general payments. No significant trends in payment amounts were observed from 2014 to 2019, but there was a significant decrease in both types of payments in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ConclusionsThe majority of emergency physicians received payments from the health care industry, although these payments were typically minimal compared with other specialties. Payment trends remained consistent from 2014 to 2019, with a notable decrease in 2020 due to the pandemic.