RxDoctor Payments Data

Carlos Zem, MD

Nephrology · San Antonio, TXNPI 1437237914

Payments from drug & device makers

$1,312in general payments, 2019–2025

Across 38 payments — averaging $34.52 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.

  • OPKO Pharmaceuticals, LLC$270
  • Novo Nordisk$164
  • AstraZeneca$134
  • Medtronic$118
  • Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc.$116
  • Akebia Therapeutics Inc$99
  • plus $411 from 13 others

What the payments were for

  • Food & beverage$1,27397%
  • Education$393%

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

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

$1,312 in reported general payments places this provider in the 45th percentile of 1,070 nephrology providers in Texas.

See all nephrology providers in Texas

Medicare billing

Part B allowed, 2024
$235,503
Medicare patients
276
Services billed
2,153

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
JardianceEmpagliflozin202$263,355
VelphoroSucroferric Oxyhydroxide102$246,569
MounjaroTirzepatide113$129,073
AuryxiaFerric Citrate46$104,664
FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol68$78,310
VeltassaPatiromer Calcium Sorbitex29$42,124
Sevelamer Carbonate103$37,499
LokelmaSodium Zirconium Cyclosilicate18$26,018
DapagliflozinDapagliflozin Propanediol11$4,613
Bumetanide70$3,190
Nifedipine ErNifedipine118$3,176
Carvedilol280$2,363
Losartan Potassium208$2,160
Clonidine18$1,940
Potassium Citrate ErPotassium Citrate26$1,664

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
Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc.Velphoro$116$246,569102 claims
Lilly USA, LLCMounjaro$70$129,073113 claims
Akebia Therapeutics IncAuryxia$99$104,66446 claims
AstraZenecaFarxiga, Lokelma$134$104,32886 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 45th percentile of 1,070 nephrology providers in Texas.

Other nephrology in San Antonio

See the full list for Texas

Where these figures come from

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