Christopher Link, MD
Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology · Pittsburgh, PANPI 1336467182
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 100.0% of the total across 16 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. Abbott accounts for 87.1% of it on its own, with 4 other manufacturers making up the rest. That places this record below the midpoint for advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology clinicians in PA, where the typical reported total is $4,440.
Across 16 payments — averaging $87.80 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Abbott$1K
- Abiomed$135
- Pfizer$19
- Impulse Dynamics (USA) Inc.$14
- AstraZeneca$13
Across 2 payments — averaging $5225.00 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.
- AstraZeneca$10K
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$1,405100%
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 | 12 | $1,224 |
| Abiomed | 1 | $135 |
| Pfizer | 1 | $19 |
| Impulse Dynamics (USA) Inc. | 1 | $14 |
| AstraZeneca | 1 | $13 |
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
$1,405 in reported general payments places this provider in the 20th percentile of 96 advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology providers in Pennsylvania.
See all advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology providers in Pennsylvania →
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 |
|---|---|---|
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 111 | $123,436 |
| EntrestoSacubitril/Valsartan | 60 | $71,547 |
| EliquisApixaban | 41 | $41,327 |
| Bumetanide | 44 | $5,462 |
| Torsemide | 69 | $2,022 |
| Metoprolol Succinate | 100 | $1,495 |
| Ezetimibe | 13 | $913 |
| Valsartan | 27 | $793 |
| Omeprazole | 25 | $658 |
| Rosuvastatin Calcium | 31 | $583 |
| Potassium Chloride | 32 | $549 |
| Spironolactone | 81 | $492 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 58 | $471 |
| Carvedilol | 52 | $427 |
| Furosemide | 67 | $415 |
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 | $19 | $41,32741 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 96 advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology providers in Pennsylvania.
Other advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology in Pittsburgh
- Andrew PogozelskiPittsburgh$401K
- Srinivas MuraliPittsburgh$39K
- Sideris FacarosPittsburgh$21K
- Matthew LanderPittsburgh$16K
- Gavin HickeyPittsburgh$5K
- Amresh RainaPittsburgh$4K
- Jenna SkowronskiPittsburgh$4K
- Ravi RamaniPittsburgh$4K
- Miguel Pinilla VeraPittsburgh$4K
- Anjali VaidyaPhiladelphia$762K
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.