Benjamin Stoner, MD
Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology · Greensboro, NCNPI 1548795354
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $2,284 of the $3,225 with a category attached, or 70.8%. 22 manufacturers reported payments, led by Abbott at 55.9% of the total. 2025 is the largest year on record at $2,019, more than ten times the $81 reported in 2021. That places this record below the midpoint for advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology clinicians in NC, where the typical reported total is $18,861.
Across 73 payments — averaging $44.17 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Abbott$2K
- Abiomed$307
- ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp)$237
- Cvrx, Inc.$134
- Merck$106
- Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, Ltd.$103
- plus $535 from 16 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$94129%
- Food & beverage$2,28471%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Abbott | 19 | $1,804 |
| Abiomed | 5 | $307 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 12 | $237 |
| Cvrx, Inc. | 6 | $134 |
| Merck | 5 | $106 |
| Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. | 1 | $103 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 4 | $82 |
| Lantheus Medical Imaging, Inc. | 1 | $66 |
| Amgen | 4 | $64 |
| Novartis | 2 | $49 |
| Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc. | 2 | $39 |
| Pfizer | 2 | $34 |
| Stryker | 1 | $29 |
| United Therapeutics Corporation | 1 | $27 |
| Irhythm Technologies, Inc. | 1 | $23 |
| Bayer | 1 | $21 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 1 | $20 |
| Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $18 |
| Scpharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| AstraZeneca | 1 | $16 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 1 | $16 |
| Medtronic | 1 | $15 |
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.
- THORATEC HEARTMATE 3 LVAS IMPLANT KIT$1,432
- CARDIOMEMS$134
- Impella$103
How this compares
$3,225 in reported general payments places this provider in the 20th percentile of 31 advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology providers in North Carolina.
See all advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology 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 |
|---|---|---|
| EntrestoSacubitril/Valsartan | 29 | $19,545 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 16 | $17,061 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 20 | $12,700 |
| Losartan Potassium | 17 | $255 |
| Metoprolol Succinate | 30 | $222 |
| Spironolactone | 25 | $157 |
| Torsemide | 18 | $147 |
| Carvedilol | 31 | $139 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 18 | $121 |
| Furosemide | 25 | $120 |
| Valsartan | 17 | $41 |
| Rosuvastatin Calcium | 13 | $31 |
| Amlodipine Besylate | 12 | $26 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| NovartisEntresto | $49 | $19,54529 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance | $82 | $17,06116 claims |
| AstraZenecaFarxiga | $16 | $12,70020 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 20th percentile of 31 advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology providers in North Carolina.
Other advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology in Greensboro
- Daniel BensimhonGreensboro$2.1M
- Dalton McLeanGreensboro$22K
- Stephen GreeneDurham$582K
- John RommelWilmington$263K
- Stephen ZouzoulasConcord$244K
- Hassan AlhosainiWinston Salem$195K
- Vinay ThohanAsheville$164K
- Kishan ParikhRaleigh$158K
- Emil MissovGreenville$71K
- David IshizawarRaleigh$55K
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.