Don Howard, MD
Critical Care Medicine · Jonesboro, ARNPI 1720016033
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 100.0% of the total across 13 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. 8 manufacturers reported payments, led by Livanova USA, Inc. at 26.8% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2023 at $456 and has fallen 79.2% since, to $95 in 2025.
Across 13 payments — averaging $47.65 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Livanova USA, Inc.$166
- Abiomed$137
- Edwards Lifesciences$129
- Baxter Healthcare$95
- Novartis$34
- Nuwellis, Inc.$25
- plus $34 from 2 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$619100%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Livanova USA, Inc. | 4 | $166 |
| Abiomed | 1 | $137 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 1 | $129 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 1 | $95 |
| Novartis | 2 | $34 |
| Nuwellis, Inc. | 1 | $25 |
| Pfizer | 2 | $22 |
| AstraZeneca | 1 | $12 |
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.
- Impella$137
- HemoSphere$129
How this compares
$619 in reported general payments places this provider in the 55th percentile of 30 critical care medicine providers in Arkansas.
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.
Other critical care medicine in Jonesboro
- Mona ParikhJonesboro$186
- Nayneshkumar PatelHot Springs$10K
- Christopher JohnLittle Rock$8K
- Muthukumar RadhakrishnanFort Smith$7K
- Syed MustafaHot Springs$5K
- Megan RashidLittle Rock$3K
- Cidney HulettLittle Rock$2K
- Aashish NeupaneFort Smith$2K
- Jaydon PetersonHot Springs$2K
- Muhammad JaffarLittle Rock$1K
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.