Hubert Ford, MD
Pulmonary Disease · Chapel Hill, NCNPI 1154433613
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by consulting fees: $70,458 of the $94,313 with a category attached, or 74.7%. 9 manufacturers reported payments, led by United Therapeutics Corporation at 52.1% of the total. 2025 is the largest year on record at $24,192, 2.1 times the $11,543 reported in 2019. Among pulmonary disease clinicians in NC 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.
Across 150 payments — averaging $628.75 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- United Therapeutics Corporation$49K
- Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc.$23K
- Merck$19K
- Bayer$2K
- Chiesi USA, Inc.$446
- Pfizer$406
- plus $402 from 3 others
Across 149 payments — averaging $13,047 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.
- Merck$1.3M
- United Therapeutics Corporation$387K
- Janssen Research & Development, LLC$120K
- Sumitomo Pharma America, Inc.$45K
- Actelion Pharmaceuticals, Ltd$36K
- Pfizer$31K
- plus $11K from 1 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$70,45875%
- Travel & lodging$20,96922%
- Food & beverage$2,8803%
- Education$50%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| United Therapeutics Corporation | 73 | $49,111 |
| Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc. | 28 | $23,179 |
| Merck | 35 | $18,949 |
| Bayer | 3 | $1,819 |
| Chiesi USA, Inc. | 2 | $446 |
| Pfizer | 2 | $406 |
| Janssen Research & Development, LLC | 2 | $263 |
| Mannkind Corporation | 3 | $112 |
| GSK | 2 | $26 |
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
$94,313 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 393 pulmonary disease providers in North Carolina.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| OpsumitMacitentan | 159 | $2,004,740 |
| Orenitram ErTreprostinil Diolamine | 81 | $966,898 |
| AdempasRiociguat | 63 | $890,070 |
| Tyvaso DpiTreprostinil | 35 | $824,262 |
| UptraviSelexipag | 28 | $678,255 |
| AdcircaTadalafil | 82 | $345,853 |
| WinrevairSotatercept-Csrk | 13 | $329,322 |
| LetairisAmbrisentan | 25 | $321,611 |
| Ambrisentan | 100 | $287,001 |
| Tadalafil | 172 | $85,536 |
| NucalaMepolizumab | 11 | $81,154 |
| Trelegy ElliptaFluticasone/Umeclidin/Vilanter | 109 | $76,477 |
| Breztri AerosphereBudesonide/Glycopyr/Formoterol | 86 | $70,192 |
| Spiriva RespimatTiotropium Bromide | 46 | $27,908 |
| Sildenafil Citrate | 126 | $16,874 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc.Opsumit, Uptravi | $23,179 | $2,682,996187 claims |
| BayerAdempas | $1,819 | $890,07063 claims |
| United Therapeutics CorporationAdcirca | $49,111 | $345,85382 claims |
| MerckWinrevair, Dulera | $18,949 | $341,76237 claims |
| GSKNucala, Trelegy Ellipta, Breo Ellipta, Anoro Ellipta, Incruse Ellipta | $26 | $189,448184 claims |
| PfizerEliquis | $406 | $10,57615 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 393 pulmonary disease providers in North Carolina.
Other pulmonary disease in Chapel Hill
- James DonohueChapel Hill$271K
- Scott DonaldsonChapel Hill$47K
- Michael KnowlesChapel Hill$36K
- Mary DanielsChapel Hill$15K
- Michael PritchettPinehurst$1.3M
- Michael WertGreensboro$412K
- Eugene BleeckerWinston Salem$357K
- Bradley IcardPinehurst$299K
- Eric MeltzerDurham$262K
- Daniel BreaultWilmington$257K
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.