RxDoctor Payments Data

Biruh Workeneh, MD

Nephrology · Houston, TXNPI 1245339928

Payments from drug & device makers

What this record shows

This record is dominated by speaking fees: $131,372 of the $185,197 with a category attached, or 70.9%. 38 manufacturers reported payments, led by Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc. at 43.1% of the total. Among nephrology clinicians in TX with any reported payments, this total sits in the top 5% — high for the specialty, which is a reason to read the composition above rather than the number alone.

$185,197in general payments, 2019–2025

Across 468 payments — averaging $395.72 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.

  • Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc.$80K
  • AstraZeneca$63K
  • Travere Therapeutics, Inc.$10K
  • Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc.$7K
  • Amgen$4K
  • Mallinckrodt Enterprises LLC$4K
  • plus $18K from 32 others
$1,608,550in research payments, 2019–2025

Across 122 payments — averaging $13,185 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.

  • Genentech, Inc.$609K
  • Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc.$305K
  • Boehringer Ingelheim$272K
  • Sanofi US Services Inc.$251K
  • Novartis$87K
  • Hoffmann-la Roche Limited$82K
  • plus $3K from 2 others

What the payments were for

  • Consulting fees$19,22010%
  • Speaking & faculty fees$131,37271%
  • Travel & lodging$14,8788%
  • Food & beverage$19,49211%
  • Education$2350%

General payments by program year

19
20
21
22
23
24
25

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.

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

$185,197 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 1,070 nephrology providers in Texas.

See all nephrology providers in Texas

Medicare billing

Part B allowed, 2024
$112,801
Medicare patients
286
Services billed
758

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

DrugClaimsCost to plans & patients
XphozahTenapanor Hcl11$30,476
FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol34$27,624
ClinisolParenteral Amino Acid 15% No.551$10,335
ProsolParenteral Amino Acid 20% No.154$10,161
JardianceEmpagliflozin14$8,157
Sevelamer Carbonate12$2,877
Chlorthalidone14$332
Furosemide18$197
Carvedilol18$105
Atorvastatin Calcium11$72
Pantoprazole Sodium16$62

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.

CompanyPaid to this providerPart D cost of their drugs
AstraZenecaFarxiga$63,201$27,62434 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 95th percentile of 1,070 nephrology providers in Texas.

Other nephrology in Houston

See the full list for Texas

Where these figures come from

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