WASHINGTON — Although it’s called “Open Payments,” the government’s new website doesn’t make it easy to find out whether your doctor is getting freebies, travel or other financial benefits from drug companies and medical device manufacturers.

This should be a clue: The website lacks a “Find Your Doctor” button.

The Obama administration says consumers will start seeing some improvements later this month, particularly when it comes to navigation.

However, an Associated Press analysis found significant problems, including large chunks of missing information and disputed data. Those are not likely to be cleared up soon.

Disclosure of financial relationships between clinicians and industry has long been a priority for consumer advocates, who worry about unseen incentives that may influence prescribing decisions, the use of high-tech tests and even surgical procedures.

The Open Payments program was required by President Barack Obama’s health care law, but for now it’s not easy to pry loose the data.

It is still possible to launch a search on a particular doctor’s name, after a number of steps. But after that a consumer has to combine several data categories to get a complete picture, including gifts, research grants and ownership stakes.

Basic instructions: On the home page (http://www.cms.gov/openpayments), hover over “Explore the Data.” Click on “Data Explorer.” Click on “Access the Data Explorer Tool.” Look for the file called “General Payment Data,” and click on that. When the file opens, look for a filter screen to appear and enter the doctor’s name and other identifying information. Another six steps are needed to get the total value of industry benefits for that doctor.

Even experts who downloaded the underlying trove of detailed records have run into challenges.

Many industry payments to physicians are hidden from public view, according to AP’s analysis of the data, which includes more than 4 million transactions from August through December 2013.