Hector Picon, MD
Cardiovascular Disease · Rome, GANPI 1457416869
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 99.4% of the total across 445 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. 32 manufacturers reported payments, led by Johnson & Johnson at 38.7% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2022 at $1,765 and has fallen 93.9% since, to $108 in 2025.
Across 445 payments — averaging $17.86 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Johnson & Johnson$3K
- Abbott$661
- Medtronic$593
- Shockwave Medical, Inc$427
- Novartis$366
- Abiomed$362
- plus $2K from 26 others
Across 15 payments — averaging $6997.80 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.
- Abbott$105K
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$7,90099%
- Education$461%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Johnson & Johnson | 259 | $3,074 |
| Abbott | 18 | $661 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 20 | $593 |
| Shockwave Medical, Inc | 27 | $427 |
| Novartis | 26 | $366 |
| Abiomed | 11 | $362 |
| AstraZeneca | 8 | $334 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 7 | $277 |
| Cardiovascular Systems Inc. | 8 | $247 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 12 | $204 |
| Boston Scientific | 5 | $189 |
| Atricure, Inc. | 1 | $185 |
| Amgen | 3 | $154 |
| Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc. | 3 | $152 |
| Pfizer | 3 | $140 |
| Chiesi USA, Inc. | 6 | $99 |
| Cvrx, Inc. | 1 | $76 |
| W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. | 2 | $55 |
| Osprey Medical Inc | 5 | $54 |
| Nuwellis, Inc. | 6 | $37 |
| CMP Pharma, Inc. | 1 | $36 |
| Lantheus Medical Imaging, Inc. | 2 | $33 |
| Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. | 2 | $29 |
| Impulse Dynamics (USA) Inc. | 1 | $25 |
| Bayer | 1 | $23 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 1 | $21 |
| Terumo Medical Corporation | 1 | $20 |
| Novo Nordisk | 1 | $19 |
| Biotronik Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $15 |
| Penumbra, Inc. | 1 | $14 |
| Bardy Diagnostics, Inc. | 1 | $10 |
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.
- XARELTO$1,643
- EPI-SENSE GUIDED COAGULATION SYSTEM WITH VISITRAX$185
- ATRICLIP LAA EXCLUSION SYSTEM$185
- SYMPLICITY G3$161
- Repatha$125
- FARXIGA$124
- CAMZYOS$124
- BRILINTA$124
- UPTRAVI$124
- OPSUMIT$124
- VYNDAQEL$123
- CoreValve Evolut$104
- ELIQUIS$102
- Diamondback Coronary$101
How this compares
$7,946 in reported general payments places this provider in the 80th percentile of 640 cardiovascular disease providers in Georgia.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| EliquisApixaban | 334 | $357,998 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 227 | $200,906 |
| EntrestoSacubitril/Valsartan | 84 | $108,517 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 129 | $103,537 |
| Repatha SureclickEvolocumab | 125 | $93,971 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 92 | $71,131 |
| Praluent PenAlirocumab | 16 | $12,891 |
| BrilintaTicagrelor | 12 | $9,327 |
| Ranolazine ErRanolazine | 91 | $7,655 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 608 | $5,468 |
| Metoprolol Succinate | 473 | $5,234 |
| Flecainide Acetate | 143 | $4,753 |
| Isosorbide Mononitrate ErIsosorbide Mononitrate | 309 | $4,466 |
| Ezetimibe | 208 | $3,649 |
| Rosuvastatin Calcium | 231 | $2,904 |
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 | $140 | $357,998334 claims |
| Johnson & JohnsonXarelto | $3,074 | $200,906227 claims |
| NovartisEntresto | $366 | $108,51784 claims |
| AstraZenecaFarxiga, Brilinta | $334 | $80,458104 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 80th percentile of 640 cardiovascular disease providers in Georgia.
Other cardiovascular disease in Rome
- Charles JacksonRome$17K
- Narendra SinghJohns Creek$1.6M
- Hunter ChampionColumbus$1.5M
- Nicolas ChronosEatonton$912K
- Jaime BurkleGainesville$628K
- Joseph MillerAtlanta$573K
- Kashyap ChoksiThomasville$263K
- Utpal PandyaAtlanta$221K
- Randolph MartinAtlanta$177K
- Hiren ShahColumbus$166K
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.