CMS Open Payments Scraper (Physician Payments)

Here is one real result, with every field the actor returns:

{
  "recipientName": "SATENIK MELKONYAN",
  "recipientNpi": "1124662234",
  "recipientProfileId": "11430383",
  "recipientType": "Covered Recipient Non-Physician Practitioner",
  "recipientFirstName": "SATENIK",
  "recipientLastName": "MELKONYAN",
  "recipientNameSuffix": null,
  "recipientSpecialty": "Physician Assistants & Advanced Practice Nursing Providers|Physician Assistant",
  "recipientPrimaryType": "Physician Assistant",
  "recipientLicenseState": "CA",
  "teachingHospitalName": null,
  "teachingHospitalId": null,
  "recipientAddressLine1": "9981 FLETCHER PARKWAY #250",
  "recipientAddressLine2": null,
  "recipientCity": "LA MESA",
  "recipientState": "CA",
  "recipientZip": "91942",
  "recipientCountry": "United States",
  "payingCompany": "Sagent Pharmaceuticals",
  "payerId": "100000066366",
  "payingCompanyState": "IL",
  "payingCompanyCountry": "United States",
  "submittingCompany": "Sagent Pharmaceuticals",
  "amount": 17.96,
  "valueOfInterest": null,
  "interestHeldBy": null,
  "paymentDate": "06/28/2023",
  "numberOfPayments": 1,
  "natureOfPayment": "Food and Beverage",
  "formOfPayment": "Cash or cash equivalent",
  "termsOfInterest": null,
  "contextualInformation": null,
  "thirdPartyRecipientName": null,
  "productType": "Drug",
  "productName": "Glydo",
  "productCategory": "Topical local anesthetic",
  "ndcCodes": ["25021-673-77"],
  "deviceProductIds": null,
  "studyName": null,
  "clinicalTrialId": null,
  "contextOfResearch": null,
  "principalInvestigators": null,
  "programYear": "2023",
  "paymentType": "general",
  "physicianOwnershipIndicator": "No",
  "relatedProductIndicator": "Yes",
  "disputeStatus": "No",
  "paymentPublicationDate": "06/30/2026",
  "recordId": "969431579",
  "observedAt": "2026-08-14T07:23:02.470Z",
  "error": null,
  "aiSummary": "Sagent Pharmaceuticals paid Satenik Melkonyan $17.96 for food and beverage on June 28, 2023, related to the drug Glydo, a topical local anesthetic.",
  "aiCategory": "Meals & Beverage",
  "aiSubcategory": null
}

The most complete CMS Open Payments scraper available. It returns every field the CMS Open Payments dataset exposes for each payment record, from the recipient identity and specialty to the paying company, amount, nature of payment, and linked product, plus optional AI summary and categorization, and gives you filters to target exactly the payments you need.

📥 Input · 📤 Output · 💰 Pricing · ▶️ Examples

Table of contents

• What it does
• Quickstart
• Input reference
• Output reference
• Example output record
• Run via API and CLI
• Fetch results
• Billing and limits
• FAQ and troubleshooting

What it does

The actor queries the CMS Open Payments dataset (industry payments to physicians, non-physician practitioners, and teaching hospitals), applies the filters you pass as input, paginates through the matching records, and writes one normalized record per payment to the run's dataset. Each record carries the recipient identity, NPI, specialty and address, the paying and submitting company, the amount, date, nature and form of payment, and the linked drug or device product. Missing source values are returned as null, never invented.

Two optional paid AI add-ons layer on top: a plain-English payment summary and a normalized category classification. Each is charged only when it produces usable output.

Quickstart

Open the actor, paste this into the input, and press Run. It returns 3 general-payment records for California recipients in program year 2023, with an AI summary and category.

{
  "paymentType": "general",
  "programYear": "2023",
  "state": "CA",
  "maxPayments": 3,
  "withAiSummary": true,
  "withAiCategorize": true,
  "natureOfPayment": ""
}

Every input field except the dataset selection is optional. Choose paymentType (general, research, or ownership) and programYear, then narrow with npi, name, companyName, state, or natureOfPayment.

Input reference

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
paymentType	enum	no	general	Which Open Payments dataset to search: general (everyday transfers of value), research, or ownership.
programYear	enum	no	2024	The calendar year the payments were reported for. One of 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019.
maxPayments	integer	no	10	Maximum number of payment records to collect across all pages. Free Apify plans are capped at 10.
npi	string	no	(empty)	Filter to a single recipient by their 10-digit National Provider Identifier.
physicianFirstName	string	no	(empty)	Filter by recipient first name. Exact match, case-insensitive.
physicianLastName	string	no	(empty)	Filter by recipient last name. Exact match, case-insensitive.
companyName	string	no	(empty)	Filter by the paying company (drug or device manufacturer or group).
state	enum	no	(any)	Two-letter US state or territory code of the recipient, for example CA, NY, TX.
natureOfPayment	enum	no	(any)	Filter general payments by the category of the transfer of value, for example Food and Beverage, Consulting Fee, Travel and Lodging, Royalty or License.
withAiSummary	boolean	no	false	Paid AI add-on. Plain-English summary of each payment record. Charged only on usable AI output. Requires a paid Apify plan.
withAiCategorize	boolean	no	false	Paid AI add-on. Classify each payment into a normalized high-level category. Charged only on usable AI output. Requires a paid Apify plan.

Output reference

One dataset item per payment record. Types: string, number, integer, string[], or null when the source value is absent.

Field	Type	Description
recipientName	string	Recipient full name.
recipientNpi	string	Recipient National Provider Identifier, or null.
recipientProfileId	string	CMS recipient profile ID.
recipientType	string	Recipient type, for example Covered Recipient Physician.
recipientFirstName	string	Recipient first name.
recipientLastName	string	Recipient last name.
recipientNameSuffix	string	Recipient name suffix, or null.
recipientSpecialty	string	Recipient specialty taxonomy.
recipientPrimaryType	string	Recipient primary type, for example Physician Assistant.
recipientLicenseState	string	Recipient license state.
teachingHospitalName	string	Teaching hospital name when the recipient is a hospital, or null.
teachingHospitalId	string	Teaching hospital ID, or null.
recipientAddressLine1	string	Recipient street address line 1.
recipientAddressLine2	string	Recipient street address line 2, or null.
recipientCity	string	Recipient city.
recipientState	string	Recipient state.
recipientZip	string	Recipient ZIP code.
recipientCountry	string	Recipient country.
payingCompany	string	Paying company (manufacturer or group).
payerId	string	CMS payer ID.
payingCompanyState	string	Paying company state.
payingCompanyCountry	string	Paying company country.
submittingCompany	string	Company that submitted the record.
amount	number	Payment amount in USD.
valueOfInterest	number	Value of ownership or investment interest (ownership dataset), or null.
interestHeldBy	string	Who holds the interest (ownership dataset), or null.
paymentDate	string	Date of payment (MM/DD/YYYY).
numberOfPayments	integer	Number of payments in this record.
natureOfPayment	string	Category of the transfer of value.
formOfPayment	string	Form of payment, for example Cash or cash equivalent.
termsOfInterest	string	Terms of the interest, or null.
contextualInformation	string	Free-text context, or null.
thirdPartyRecipientName	string	Third-party recipient name, or null.
productType	string	Linked product type, for example Drug or Device.
productName	string	Linked product name.
productCategory	string	Linked product category or therapeutic area.
ndcCodes	string[]	Drug NDC codes, or null.
deviceProductIds	string[]	Device product IDs, or null.
studyName	string	Research study name (research dataset), or null.
clinicalTrialId	string	ClinicalTrials.gov ID (research dataset), or null.
contextOfResearch	string	Context of research, or null.
principalInvestigators	string	Principal investigators (research dataset), or null.
programYear	string	Program year of the payment.
paymentType	string	Dataset the record came from (general, research, ownership).
physicianOwnershipIndicator	string	Whether the physician has an ownership interest (Yes/No).
relatedProductIndicator	string	Whether the payment is tied to a product (Yes/No).
disputeStatus	string	Whether the payment is disputed (Yes/No).
paymentPublicationDate	string	Date CMS published the record (MM/DD/YYYY).
recordId	string	CMS record ID (unique per payment).
aiSummary	string	AI payment summary, or null unless the add-on is enabled.
aiCategory	string	AI normalized category, or null unless the add-on is enabled.
aiSubcategory	string	AI subcategory, or null.
observedAt	string	ISO 8601 timestamp of when the record was collected.
error	string	null on success. On a failed run, a single item with a populated error field is written instead.

Example output record

Real record from a live run (input {"paymentType": "general", "programYear": "2023", "state": "CA", "maxPayments": 3, "withAiSummary": true, "withAiCategorize": true}):

{
  "recipientName": "SATENIK MELKONYAN",
  "recipientNpi": "1124662234",
  "recipientProfileId": "11430383",
  "recipientType": "Covered Recipient Non-Physician Practitioner",
  "recipientFirstName": "SATENIK",
  "recipientLastName": "MELKONYAN",
  "recipientNameSuffix": null,
  "recipientSpecialty": "Physician Assistants & Advanced Practice Nursing Providers|Physician Assistant",
  "recipientPrimaryType": "Physician Assistant",
  "recipientLicenseState": "CA",
  "teachingHospitalName": null,
  "teachingHospitalId": null,
  "recipientAddressLine1": "9981 FLETCHER PARKWAY #250",
  "recipientAddressLine2": null,
  "recipientCity": "LA MESA",
  "recipientState": "CA",
  "recipientZip": "91942",
  "recipientCountry": "United States",
  "payingCompany": "Sagent Pharmaceuticals",
  "payerId": "100000066366",
  "payingCompanyState": "IL",
  "payingCompanyCountry": "United States",
  "submittingCompany": "Sagent Pharmaceuticals",
  "amount": 17.96,
  "valueOfInterest": null,
  "interestHeldBy": null,
  "paymentDate": "06/28/2023",
  "numberOfPayments": 1,
  "natureOfPayment": "Food and Beverage",
  "formOfPayment": "Cash or cash equivalent",
  "termsOfInterest": null,
  "contextualInformation": null,
  "thirdPartyRecipientName": null,
  "productType": "Drug",
  "productName": "Glydo",
  "productCategory": "Topical local anesthetic",
  "ndcCodes": ["25021-673-77"],
  "deviceProductIds": null,
  "studyName": null,
  "clinicalTrialId": null,
  "contextOfResearch": null,
  "principalInvestigators": null,
  "programYear": "2023",
  "paymentType": "general",
  "physicianOwnershipIndicator": "No",
  "relatedProductIndicator": "Yes",
  "disputeStatus": "No",
  "paymentPublicationDate": "06/30/2026",
  "recordId": "969431579",
  "observedAt": "2026-08-14T07:23:02.470Z",
  "error": null,
  "aiSummary": "Sagent Pharmaceuticals paid Satenik Melkonyan $17.96 for food and beverage on June 28, 2023, related to the drug Glydo, a topical local anesthetic.",
  "aiCategory": "Meals & Beverage",
  "aiSubcategory": null
}

Run via API and CLI

Start a run and wait for it to finish, then read the dataset. Replace <TOKEN> with your Apify API token.

Run synchronously and get dataset items in one call:

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/scrapers_lat~cms-open-payments-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<TOKEN>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"paymentType":"general","programYear":"2023","companyName":"Pfizer","natureOfPayment":"Consulting Fee","maxPayments":50}'

Start a run asynchronously:

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/scrapers_lat~cms-open-payments-scraper/runs?token=<TOKEN>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"paymentType":"general","programYear":"2023","state":"NY","maxPayments":100}'

Apify CLI:

apify call scrapers_lat/cms-open-payments-scraper \
  --input '{"paymentType":"general","programYear":"2023","npi":"1124662234"}'

Fetch results

Every run writes to a dataset. Fetch items as JSON, CSV, or Excel by changing format:

# JSON
curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/datasets/<DATASET_ID>/items?token=<TOKEN>&clean=true&format=json"

# CSV
curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/datasets/<DATASET_ID>/items?token=<TOKEN>&clean=true&format=csv"

# Paginate large datasets
curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/datasets/<DATASET_ID>/items?token=<TOKEN>&offset=1000&limit=1000"

<DATASET_ID> is returned as defaultDatasetId in the run object. Use offset and limit to page through large result sets. clean=true drops empty and internal fields.

Billing and limits

• Pay per result. You are charged per payment record returned (result event). See the pricing tab for the current per-result price.
• Paid AI add-ons. ai_summary and ai_categorize are separate events, each billed only when they produce usable output. Leave them off to pay for results only.
• No charge on failure. If a run errors, the actor writes a single item with a populated error field and does not charge for it. Empty runs cost nothing.
• Spend cap respected. Set maxTotalChargeUsd on the run; once reached, the actor stops emitting and charging further billable results.
• Free Apify plans are capped at 10 records per run. Upgrade for higher maxPayments.

FAQ and troubleshooting

A run returned 0 records. Why? The filter combination matched nothing. Loosen filters (for example remove natureOfPayment or widen state), and confirm the programYear and NPI. Zero-result runs are not charged.

How do I pull all payments to one physician? Set npi to their 10-digit National Provider Identifier and choose the programYear. You can also filter by physicianFirstName and physicianLastName.

What is the difference between the three payment types? general covers everyday transfers of value (meals, travel, consulting), research covers research payments and studies, and ownership covers physician ownership and investment interests. Some fields only apply to one dataset and are null for the others.

Why are the research or ownership fields null? They only apply to the research and ownership datasets. For general payments they are returned as null, never invented.

Do the AI add-ons need a paid plan? Yes. The AI summary and categorize add-ons require a paid Apify plan and are charged only when they return usable output.

Is this an official Medicare or CMS tool? No. This actor is independent and has no affiliation with CMS. It reads only data that is publicly available through the CMS Open Payments program.

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Independent tool, not affiliated with CMS. Accesses only publicly available CMS Open Payments data.