Basel Alrefai, MD
Cardiovascular Disease · Alexander City, ALNPI 1568523579
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $3,141 of the $5,141 with a category attached, or 61.1%. 30 manufacturers reported payments, led by Cardiovascular Systems Inc. at 40.0% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $2,714 and has fallen 93.8% since, to $169 in 2025.
Across 186 payments — averaging $27.64 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Cardiovascular Systems Inc.$2K
- AbbVie$438
- GSK$418
- Novo Nordisk$406
- Lilly USA, LLC$306
- Johnson & Johnson$237
- plus $1K from 24 others
Across 8 payments — averaging $6136.72 each. Payments tied to a research study. These frequently flow through the physician to a hospital or research institution rather than to the physician personally.
- Bayer$49K
- Bard Peripheral Vascular, Inc.$400
What the payments were for
- Speaking & faculty fees$2,00039%
- Food & beverage$3,14161%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Cardiovascular Systems Inc. | 5 | $2,058 |
| AbbVie(2 entities) | 26 | $438 |
| GSK | 23 | $418 |
| Novo Nordisk | 22 | $406 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 18 | $306 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 15 | $237 |
| Amgen | 13 | $214 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 16 | $211 |
| AstraZeneca | 12 | $185 |
| Pfizer | 10 | $152 |
| Novartis | 4 | $77 |
| Abbott | 2 | $49 |
| Endologix LLC | 1 | $40 |
| Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc. | 1 | $33 |
| Dexcom, Inc. | 2 | $33 |
| Boston Scientific | 2 | $32 |
| Bard Peripheral Vascular, Inc. | 1 | $25 |
| Corcept Therapeutics | 1 | $24 |
| Medtronic | 1 | $22 |
| Philips North America LLC | 1 | $22 |
| Xeris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $21 |
| Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. | 1 | $21 |
| Amarin Pharma, Inc. | 1 | $18 |
| Bayer | 1 | $18 |
| Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $16 |
| Smith+Nephew | 1 | $15 |
| Cordis US CORP. | 1 | $14 |
| Tactile Systems Technology Inc | 1 | $13 |
| Cardinal Health 200 LLC | 1 | $12 |
| Surmodics, Inc. | 1 | $11 |
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.
How this compares
$5,141 in reported general payments places this provider in the 65th percentile of 292 cardiovascular disease providers in Alabama.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| EliquisApixaban | 119 | $107,748 |
| MounjaroTirzepatide | 35 | $40,604 |
| OzempicSemaglutide | 32 | $38,398 |
| Repatha SureclickEvolocumab | 46 | $28,452 |
| TrulicityDulaglutide | 17 | $24,779 |
| RybelsusSemaglutide | 17 | $24,449 |
| Trelegy ElliptaFluticasone/Umeclidin/Vilanter | 27 | $17,001 |
| LinzessLinaclotide | 22 | $16,381 |
| Tresiba Flextouch U-100Insulin Degludec | 22 | $14,959 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 16 | $12,885 |
| Tresiba Flextouch U-200Insulin Degludec | 17 | $12,841 |
| Anoro ElliptaUmeclidinium Brm/Vilanterol Tr | 22 | $10,357 |
| Gabapentin | 359 | $5,732 |
| MovantikNaloxegol Oxalate | 11 | $4,495 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 363 | $4,095 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| PfizerEliquis | $152 | $107,748119 claims |
| Lilly USA, LLCMounjaro, Trulicity | $306 | $65,38452 claims |
| Novo NordiskOzempic, Rybelsus | $406 | $62,84649 claims |
| GSKTrelegy Ellipta, Anoro Ellipta | $418 | $27,35749 claims |
| AbbVieLinzess | $438 | $16,38122 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance | $211 | $12,88516 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 65th percentile of 292 cardiovascular disease providers in Alabama.
Other cardiovascular disease in Alexander City
- Kevin SublettAlexander City$9K
- Brian FoleyAlexander City$9K
- Dennis ThomasMobile$894K
- David FienoAlabaster$421K
- Vikram AroraBirmingham$271K
- Jason ThompsonBirmingham$248K
- Michael WilenskyBirmingham$241K
- Mustafa AhmedBirmingham$218K
- Frederick GaskinBirmingham$115K
- Pankaj AroraBirmingham$83K
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.