It's opening day and a physician scans into your booth, watches a demo, grabs a coffee, and leaves with a branded jacket. Four moments in about ninety seconds. So, which ones end up in an Open Payments report?
The badge scan is not the reportable event, and neither is the conversation or a demo where the device stays on the counter. The interaction is not what gets reported, but the items you handed over might be.
Speak with our healthcare team if your team is mapping booth logistics for an upcoming show and wants a booth designed around your compliance team’s requirements before the floor opens.
A payment or other transfer of value provided in connection with a healthcare professional’s (HCP’s) booth visit may be reportable when all five of these conditions apply:
For program year 2026, a transfer of value of $13.82 or more is potentially reportable, and smaller transfers generally become reportable when the annual total for one covered recipient exceeds $138.13, per Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) Open Payments thresholds.
One rule sits on top of those numbers and works in exhibitors’ favor: transfers below $13.82 provided at large-scale conferences, similar large-scale events, and events open to the public do not have to be reported or counted toward the annual aggregate, under 42 CFR 403.904(h)(2)(iii).
| Booth activity | Open Payments treatment for program year 2026 |
|---|---|
| Badge scan or booth conversation | Not a transfer of value on its own |
| Demo where the device stays at the booth | Not a loan, and not reportable on its own |
| Buffet food, coffee, or snacks open to all attendees | Not reported or tracked, per 403.904(g)(2) |
| Any item under $13.82 at a qualifying large-scale event | Excluded from reporting and from the annual aggregate, per 403.904(h)(2)(iii) |
| Giveaway at $13.82 or more in delivered cost | Potentially reportable |
| Meal above the threshold for selected or identifiable attendees | Potentially reportable |
| Raffle or contest prize to an identified covered recipient | Potentially reportable |
| Patient-facing educational materials | Excluded, per 403.904(h)(4) |
| Medical textbooks or journal reprints | Not excluded; categorize under education or gift |
| Device loan up to 90 cumulative days per covered recipient per year | Excluded, per 403.904(h)(5) |
| Device loan of 91 days or longer | Reportable as a long-term loan, per 42 CFR 403.902 |
| Consulting fees, speaker compensation, travel, or lodging | Reportable payment categories |
Quick Note: Whether something must be reported is separate from whether your company may provide it. Have compliance approve meals, giveaways, and prizes before planning the activation.
This article provides general information, not legal or compliance advice. CMS adjusts thresholds and penalties annually, and many Open Payments decisions depend on the specific circumstances. Confirm your company’s obligations with its legal and compliance teams before setting booth policy.
An applicable manufacturer must meet the requirements in 42 CFR 403.902.
These include operating in the United States and producing, preparing, propagating, compounding, or converting a covered drug, device, biological, or medical supply. The definition also reaches qualifying entities under common ownership that provide assistance or support.
Not every healthcare or pharma exhibitor is automatically an applicable manufacturer.
“Covered recipient” is more specific than “healthcare provider.” The regulatory definition includes:
Bona fide employees of the reporting manufacturer are excluded from the individual covered-recipient definition.
The five non-physician practitioner categories first appeared in program year 2021 data following the SUPPORT Act expansion, as explained in CMS’s expansion FAQs.
If your booth staff still thinks “Sunshine Act” means “physicians only,” that assumption needs updating.
Open Payments defines a payment or other transfer of value, broadly as a transfer of 'anything of value'. Relevant reporting categories include:
Whether a particular transfer must be reported depends on the applicable thresholds and exclusions.
Two rules shelter food at a major trade show, and they work independently.
Generally available buffet meals, snacks, soft drinks, and coffee at a large-scale conference are not reported or tracked at all under 42 CFR 403.904(g)(2).
Separately, sub-threshold transfers at a qualifying large-scale event fall under the (h)(2)(iii) exception above, whoever took them. CMS never defines “large-scale,” so your compliance team owns that call.
Meals provided to selected, identifiable attendees require a separate review.
CMS explains that these meals do not qualify for the generally available conference-food exception in Open Payments FAQs (FAQ #8390). A private dinner does not qualify for large-scale-event treatment simply because it happens during conference week. Outside the event exceptions, smaller meals may also count toward the annual aggregate.
An item valued at $13.82 or more cannot rely on the large-scale-event exception. The full delivered value is what counts, and CMS confirms that tax and payments for shipping and handling are included in the total value of a transfer (FAQ #8964). A $12 unit price can cross the 2026 threshold once tax and freight land on it. Set your giveaway limit on delivered cost, not the advertised unit price.
A prize given to an identified covered recipient is a potential gift or transfer of value, with prizes valued at $13.82 or more meeting the 2026 individual reporting threshold. The badge scan helps identify the recipient. It is not what makes the prize reportable. Run any contest or “spin to win” past compliance before the show, not after.
A demo is not automatically a loan. A short-term medical supply or device loan may qualify for the exclusion at 42 CFR 403.904(h)(5) when provided for evaluation. The definition at 42 CFR 403.902 caps that at a loan period of 90 cumulative days per calendar year, or a quantity equal to 90 cumulative days of average daily use, and it also covers a device under development
CMS adds that the period begins when the manufacturer provides the device, and that it applies per covered recipient (FAQ #8956 and #8958). Cumulative is the word that catches people: three separate 40-day loans to the same provider blow through the limit. Loans of 91 days or longer fall into the long-term loan category at 42 CFR 403.902, which is a reporting category rather than an exclusion.
Under 42 CFR 403.904(h)(4), the educational materials exclusion applies to materials that directly benefit patients or are intended to be used by or with patients. It is patient-facing, not a general exclusion for anything educational, which is where some teams get this one wrong. CMS states that medical textbooks and journal reprints, which educate covered recipients but are not intended for patient use or direct patient benefit, are not included, and directs manufacturers to categorize them under education or gift (FAQ #8171 and #8254). Other exclusions, including the small-transfer exception at qualifying large-scale events, may still apply.
Discussing a possible speaker or advisory relationship in your booth is not itself a transfer of value. The compensation attached to it may be. Where the conversation happened does not change the rules.
Before the exhibit hall opens, your team should be able to answer these 7-questions:
Your compliance team makes the final policy calls. The booth should make those calls easy to follow, especially at 10 a.m. on day two, when you are three attendees deep and nobody has time to look anything up.
Talk to Us before your next show if you want these answers and more settled while there is still time to build the process instead of patching it.
Healthcare and Pharma exhibiting operates under a different level of scrutiny than most industries.
The audiences are specialized. The reporting requirements are specific. The interactions move quickly. Every meal, giveaway, prize, or device loan may introduce another detail for your compliance team to evaluate.
Exhibit Happy by Steelhead works with life sciences marketing teams to design exhibit environments around established compliance requirements from the very beginning, supporting agency collaboration and making approved processes easier to follow on the show floor.
Because in healthcare, a successful exhibit experience isn’t just visually impressive.
It gives your team the clarity and structure to engage healthcare professionals confidently, with your compliance team’s requirements considered from the first design conversation.
Book a Consultation to explore how your next exhibit can be designed around your program requirements from the beginning.
No. A badge scan has no monetary value. It may help connect an identified covered recipient with a separate item or benefit that person received, which is a documentation question rather than a reportable payment.
Not automatically, and two separate rules matter. Manufacturers are not required to report or track qualifying buffet meals, snacks, soft drinks, or coffee made generally available to all participants at a large-scale event. Sub-threshold items at a qualifying large-scale event are also excluded. Meals for selected, identifiable attendees must be evaluated against the individual threshold, applicable annual aggregate, and any exclusions.
If it is provided at a qualifying large-scale conference or similar event, the exception in 42 CFR 403.904(h)(2)(iii) generally excludes it from both reporting and the annual aggregate. Outside that setting, smaller payments may count toward the annual aggregate.
Yes. CMS states that tax and payments for shipping and handling are included in the total value of a payment or other transfer of value. An item priced under the threshold can land above it once freight and tax are added, so set internal limits on delivered cost.
No, simply because they are educational. The exclusion applies to qualifying materials that directly benefit patients or are intended for use by or with patients. CMS explains that textbooks and journal reprints intended for professional education, without patient use or direct patient benefit, do not qualify for this exclusion. Other exclusions may still apply.
Qualifying device or medical-supply loans for evaluation are excluded for up to 90 cumulative days per covered recipient per calendar year. Longer or repeated loans that exceed the cumulative limit have to be evaluated, and loans of 91 days or longer fall into the long-term loan category.
CMS may impose civil monetary penalties when a reporting entity fails to report information in a timely, accurate, or complete manner, with higher penalties for knowing failures. The applicable amounts are tiered and are adjusted annually under the rules referenced in 42 CFR 403.912.