How to Use the HHS Open Payments MCP in Claude

Query physician payment records directly inside Claude Desktop. Audit healthcare financial ties without leaving your chat window.

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Connect HHS Open Payments MCP to Claude Desktop

Create your Vinkius account to connect HHS Open Payments to Claude Desktop and route execution through our secure gateway. The platform manages server hosting, runtime updates, and security layers. Configuration requires no manual server provisioning.

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Setup HHS Open Payments with Claude Desktop

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Audit physician payments in Claude Desktop

Stop digging through government portals manually. Use `search_physicians` to find specific doctors and cross-reference their financial disclosures directly in your Claude Desktop chat. This MCP Server provides the raw data you need to identify potential conflicts of interest. You get immediate access to public payment records without switching tabs or losing your train of thought.

Analyze hospital funding patterns

Identify teaching hospitals and their associated payments by calling `search_hospitals`. You can pull specific entity data to map out complex financial relationships across the healthcare industry. Once you have the target hospital, use `query_dataset` to filter for specific payment types or timeframes. It brings the entire HHS Open Payments database into your local workspace.

Bulk data management for researchers

Need the full picture? Use `download_dataset` to pull complete records for offline analysis. It is the fastest way to get massive datasets into your local environment for deep inspection. After downloading, you can use `list_datasets` to keep track of what you have already pulled. Your Claude Desktop agent handles the heavy lifting, keeping your research organized and up to date.

Setup guide

Set up HHS Open Payments MCP in Claude Web or Desktop

1

Open Claude Settings

Go to claude.ai, click your profile icon, then navigate to Customize → Connectors.
2

Add Custom Connector

Click the "+" button and select Add custom connector. Paste your Vinkius endpoint URL: https://edge.vinkius.com/[YOUR_TOKEN_HERE]/mcp Replace [YOUR_TOKEN_HERE] with your token from cloud.vinkius.com. For OAuth-protected servers, expand Advanced settings to add credentials.
3

Start a conversation

Open a new chat. The HHS Open Payments MCP tools are available immediately — no restart needed.

Endpoint URL

https://edge.vinkius.com/[YOUR_TOKEN_HERE]/mcp

No configuration file needed — paste the URL directly in the Claude web interface.

Available on Free (1 connector), Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise plans.

Prerequisites

Claude Desktop installed (macOS or Windows)
Active Vinkius subscription with a valid endpoint token

1

Open Claude Desktop Settings

Click the menu icon at the top-left corner, go to Settings → Developer → Edit Config. This opens claude_desktop_config.json in your default text editor.
2

Paste the HHS Open Payments MCP configuration

Copy the JSON snippet on the right into the mcpServers object. Replace [YOUR_TOKEN_HERE] with your endpoint token from cloud.vinkius.com.
3

Restart Claude Desktop

Close and reopen the application. Claude needs a full restart to load new MCPs — refreshing a conversation is not enough.
4

Verify the connection

Open a new conversation. Click the 🔌 icon at the bottom of the message input. You should see tools listed under hhs-open-payments-mcp.

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "hhs-open-payments-mcp": {
      "url": "https://edge.vinkius.com/[YOUR_TOKEN_HERE]/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Get your connection token →

Independent Platform Disclaimer: Vinkius is an independent platform and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, verified by, or otherwise authorized by HHS Open Payments. All third-party trademarks, logos, and brand names are the property of their respective owners. Their use on this website is strictly for informational purposes to identify service compatibility and interoperability.

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Common questions about HHS Open Payments MCP in Claude Desktop

Yes. This MCP Server connects directly to the HHS database. You can pull records, search for doctors, and query payments without leaving your Claude Desktop interface.

The server only accesses publicly available government data. It does not touch your private files or personal information, ensuring your audit remains isolated from your sensitive local documents.

Yes. You can instruct your agent to perform multi-step searches across physicians and hospitals. It chains the tool calls to build a report for you.

No. The data is retrieved on-demand from the official government API. Nothing is cached on our servers, so you always see the latest reported numbers.

The tools will return a connection error. Since the server acts as a direct pipe to the HHS database, you are subject to their current uptime and status.

Use it with your favorite AI tools

Connect this server to Cursor, Claude, VS Code, and more.

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