James Baker, MD
Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology · Nashville, TNNPI 1497793731
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by speaking fees: $18,700 of the $24,706 with a category attached, or 75.7%. Medtronic accounts for 86.1% of it on its own, with 10 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $13,574 and has fallen 91.4% since, to $1,169 in 2025.
Across 80 payments — averaging $308.82 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Medtronic$21K
- Abbott$2K
- Biosense Webster, Inc.$569
- Boston Scientific$353
- Inspire Medical Systems, Inc.$42
- E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C.$37
- plus $93 from 5 others
Across 159 payments — averaging $7298.13 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.
- Medtronic$1.1M
- Boston Scientific$47K
- Abbott$10K
- Cvrx, Inc.$1K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$6002%
- Speaking & faculty fees$18,70076%
- Travel & lodging$1,1875%
- Food & beverage$4,21917%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 34 | $21,280 |
| Abbott | 24 | $2,331 |
| Biosense Webster, Inc. | 5 | $569 |
| Boston Scientific | 8 | $353 |
| Inspire Medical Systems, Inc. | 1 | $42 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 2 | $37 |
| Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. | 2 | $31 |
| Gilead | 1 | $17 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 1 | $17 |
| Pfizer | 1 | $16 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 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.
- Arctic Front$16,018
- ARCTIC FRONT ADVANCE$2,953
- CARDIOBLATE CRYOFLEX$743
- Carto 3$642
- Therapy Ablation Catheter$600
- ENSITE PRECISION$518
- THORATEC HEARTMATE 3 LVAS IMPLANT KIT$398
- DIAMONDTEMP BIDIRECTIONAL ABLATION CATHETER$349
- ENSITE$217
- PulseSelect$177
- WATCHMAN Access System$167
- Perclose ProStyle$132
- SPHERE-9$128
- Soundstar$113
- NUVISION ICE CATHETER$113
How this compares
$24,706 in reported general payments places this provider in the 60th percentile of 82 clinical cardiac electrophysiology providers in Tennessee.
See all clinical cardiac electrophysiology providers in Tennessee →
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 | 1,306 | $1,261,503 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 301 | $307,468 |
| MultaqDronedarone Hcl | 64 | $66,870 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 59 | $43,210 |
| EntrestoSacubitril/Valsartan | 33 | $34,440 |
| Dofetilide | 117 | $28,344 |
| Flecainide Acetate | 585 | $23,415 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 24 | $21,279 |
| CorlanorIvabradine Hcl | 16 | $9,299 |
| Mexiletine Hcl | 67 | $9,027 |
| Dabigatran EtexilateDabigatran Etexilate Mesylate | 46 | $7,923 |
| Metoprolol Succinate | 609 | $7,660 |
| Amiodarone Hcl | 218 | $5,995 |
| SavaysaEdoxaban Tosylate | 12 | $4,875 |
| Propafenone Hcl ErPropafenone Hcl | 15 | $4,190 |
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 | $16 | $1,261,5031,306 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance | $17 | $43,21059 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 60th percentile of 82 clinical cardiac electrophysiology providers in Tennessee.
Other clinical cardiac electrophysiology in Nashville
- Stephen FahrigNashville$605K
- Gregory BashianNashville$361K
- William StevensonNashville$172K
- Sandeep DuggalNashville$151K
- Sean WhalenNashville$149K
- Harikrishna TandriNashville$97K
- Robert PickettNashville$95K
- Robert JonesNashville$57K
- Giovanni Davogustto CataldoNashville$42K
- Jonathan GandhiNashville$36K
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.