Eli Lilly has launched an online registry detailing recent payments that it has made to physicians and other healthcare professionals for the first quarter of 2009, totaling $22 million. The company said it will update the registry quarterly going forward.

Nearly 3,400 physicians and other healthcare professionals are in the "faculty registry." The registry, which includes physician names, payment amount and services provided, is available at www.lillyfacultyregistry.com.

The Indianapolis-based company said its average payment per service provided is slightly more than $1,000, with healthcare professionals conducting six activities on average. The majority of large payments were made to individual psychiatrists--with many between $25,000-$50,000.

However, in the first quarter, some endocrinologists and cardiac specialists also received large sums, such as:

• Richard A. Aronson, MD, endocrinologist in Greensboro, N.C.: $32,250;
• Ajay Chaudhuri, MD, endocrinologist in Getzville, N.Y.: $30,937;
• Osama Hamdy, MD, endocrinologist in Wellesley, Mass.: $30,625;
• Elizabeth H. Holt, MD, endocrinologist in Durham, N.C.: $30,187;
• David M. Jablons, MD, thoracic surgeon in San Francisco: $41,800;
• Michael T. McDermott, MD, endocrinologist in Aurora, Colo.: $25,012;
• Thomas W. Oates, MD, endocrinologist in Lakeland, Fla..: $35,437;
• Charles A. Reasner, MD, endocrinologist in San Antonio, Texas: $34,875;
• Neil E. Shaffner, MD, endocrinologist in Montgomery, Ala.: $30,937;
• David M. Slovik, MD, endocrinologist in Boston: $30,000; and
• Virginia Valentine, RN, diabetes specialist in Albuquerque, N.M.: $26,412.

"Our contracted faculty are key resources in our efforts to improve individual patient outcomes," said Jack Harris, MD, vice president of Lilly's U.S. medical division. "They advise us on how to bring the best new cures and treatments to market, and give lectures to their peers on Lilly products and disease-state information to help keep them current on the ever-changing field of medicine."

In 2004, Lilly voluntarily made public its clinical trials and its clinical trials data at www.lillytrials.com. In 2007, Lilly publicly reported its educational grants and charitable contributions and, each quarter, posted the data online at www.lillygrantoffice.com.

Lilly announced in  September 2008 that it would begin to voluntarily disclose physician payments starting in the second half of 2009. In February, Lilly entered into a Corporate Integrity Agreement with the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, requiring the company to disclose the information.