Anshul Rao, MD
Rheumatology · Clayton, NCNPI 1811036817
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 96.2% of the total across 264 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. It is spread thinly across 31 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 18.8% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations. Reporting peaked in 2022 at $1,033 and has fallen 66.3% since, to $348 in 2024.
Across 264 payments — averaging $16.67 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Amgen$827
- Pfizer$577
- AbbVie$533
- Novartis$352
- Novo Nordisk$250
- GSK$226
- plus $2K from 25 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$1503%
- Speaking & faculty fees$170%
- Food & beverage$4,23596%
Most of this is food and beverage — typically meals provided during product presentations at a clinic or hospital. Nationally that is the single largest category of reported payments by count.
General payments by program year
Who reported the general payments
Companies are grouped under their corporate parent — a single manufacturer often files under several CMS reporting entities. Research and ownership payments are counted separately and are not in this table.
| Company | Payments | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Amgen | 48 | $827 |
| Pfizer | 48 | $577 |
| AbbVie | 34 | $533 |
| Novartis | 17 | $352 |
| Novo Nordisk | 15 | $250 |
| GSK | 6 | $226 |
| UCB, Inc. | 16 | $226 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 12 | $212 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 10 | $193 |
| Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc. | 9 | $130 |
| AstraZeneca(2 entities) | 6 | $105 |
| Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc. | 4 | $100 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 6 | $96 |
| Genentech USA, Inc. | 4 | $86 |
| Organon | 5 | $74 |
| Bristol Myers Squibb | 4 | $73 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 3 | $50 |
| Exact Sciences | 2 | $46 |
| Radius Health, Inc. | 2 | $44 |
| Aurinia Pharma U.S., Inc. | 2 | $30 |
| Lundbeck LLC | 1 | $19 |
| Mallinckrodt Enterprises LLC | 1 | $19 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 1 | $18 |
| Acorda Therapeutics, Inc | 1 | $17 |
| Merck | 1 | $16 |
| Medexus Pharma, Inc. | 1 | $16 |
| Bausch Health US, LLC | 1 | $16 |
| EMD Serono, Inc. | 1 | $15 |
| Sandoz | 1 | $13 |
| Neurelis, Inc. | 1 | $12 |
| Arbor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $12 |
What the payments were tied to
Products named in the reported payments. Only payments of $100 or more are attributed here — the typical reported payment nationally is a meal worth about $16, and listing those product-by-product would be noise.
- BENLYSTA$150
How this compares
$4,402 in reported general payments places this provider in the 55th percentile of 210 rheumatology providers in North Carolina.
Medicare billing
What this is not: this is the amount Original Medicare Part B allowed for services this provider billed in 2024. It is not their income. It excludes Medicare Advantage — now more than half of all Medicare enrollment — along with Medicaid and all commercial insurance, and it is gross practice revenue before staff, rent, supplies and malpractice premiums. CMS also suppresses any figure covering ten or fewer patients, so low-volume providers appear smaller than they are.
Most prescribed under Part D
| Drug | Claims | Cost to plans & patients |
|---|---|---|
| Humira(Cf) PenAdalimumab | 23 | $155,969 |
| RinvoqUpadacitinib | 25 | $152,254 |
| Enbrel SureclickEtanercept | 16 | $121,864 |
| Xeljanz XrTofacitinib Citrate | 13 | $64,977 |
| BenlystaBelimumab | 12 | $57,176 |
| ActemraTocilizumab | 11 | $41,363 |
| Hydroxychloroquine Sulfate | 189 | $5,223 |
| MethotrexateMethotrexate Sodium | 227 | $3,552 |
| Febuxostat | 14 | $1,450 |
| Prednisone | 158 | $1,165 |
| Mycophenolate Mofetil | 11 | $900 |
| Colchicine | 11 | $526 |
| Sulfasalazine | 11 | $390 |
| Methylprednisolone | 43 | $289 |
| Folic Acid | 18 | $266 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Companies that both paid and supply prescribed drugs
These companies both reported payments to this provider and make drugs the provider prescribed under Medicare Part D in 2024. For most specialties this overlap is expected — a cardiologist who is paid by a cardiology drugmaker also treats heart disease. It is shown so the reader can see it, not because it implies anything on its own.
| Company | Paid to this provider | Part D cost of their drugs |
|---|---|---|
| AbbVieRinvoq | $533 | $152,25425 claims |
| GSKBenlysta | $226 | $57,17612 claims |
Reading this fairly. The Part D column is what drug plans and patients paid pharmacies — this provider received none of it, and it reflects how many patients they treat and what those drugs cost. Against peers, this provider's reported payments sit in the 55th percentile of 210 rheumatology providers in North Carolina.
Other rheumatology in Clayton
- Mary Anne DooleyClayton$80K
- Gordon LamCharlotte$2.7M
- Ralph SnydermanDurham$1.3M
- Wendy SimmonsWilmington$462K
- Andrew LasterCharlotte$421K
- Ana RossRaleigh$417K
- Gwenesta MeltonFayetteville$410K
- Joseph ShanahanDurham$407K
- Jill ZouzoulasCharlotte$377K
- Jill VargoAsheville$245K
Where these figures come from
- Payments: CMS Open Payments, program years 2019–2025 (publication P06302026_06032026).
- Billing: Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners, data year 2024. Original Medicare Part B only.
- Identity: NPPES NPI Registry, July 2026.