Medical devicemaker Medtronic has become the latest of a string of companies agreeing to voluntarily disclose their payments to physicians. 

Starting in March 2011, the company plans to begin reporting all payments over $5,000 that it makes to doctors, with the first report covering 2010, to include consulting fees, royalties and honoraria.

This plan is far more conservative than the $100 threshold proposed by the Physician Payment Sunshine Act [1], a pending federal bill that would call for disclosure of financial relationships between the biomedical industry and physicians. It's also more conservative than disclosure initiatives announced by pharmas like Pfizer [2] and Lilly [3], which have agreed to report payments of $500 a year or more.

However, it does represent a significant step for Medtronic, which is one of the first medical devicemakers to take such a step, according to a company spokesperson.

To get more information on Medtronic's plans:
- read this Wall Street Journal Health Blog piece [4]

Related Articles:
Legislators want more physician payment disclosure [5]
Study: Pharma disclosure laws not working [6]
Feds charge researcher over Pfizer consulting fees [7]
Senators want info on who paid doctors [8]