John Acker
Cardiovascular Disease · Knoxville, TNNPI 1497756241
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 289 payments — averaging $15.02 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp)$1K
- Novartis$818
- Johnson & Johnson$662
- Amgen$332
- Pfizer$277
- Boston Scientific$262
- plus $793 from 14 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$4,29899%
- Education$421%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 56 | $1,197 |
| Novartis | 60 | $818 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 71 | $662 |
| Amgen | 23 | $332 |
| Pfizer | 21 | $277 |
| Boston Scientific | 14 | $262 |
| AstraZeneca | 10 | $153 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 6 | $108 |
| Philips North America LLC | 6 | $102 |
| Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc. | 7 | $99 |
| Abbott | 3 | $62 |
| Abiomed | 1 | $56 |
| Atricure, Inc. | 1 | $47 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 3 | $44 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 2 | $34 |
| Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc. | 1 | $22 |
| Vital Connect, Inc | 1 | $20 |
| Novo Nordisk | 1 | $18 |
| Lantheus Medical Imaging, Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $11 |
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$114
How this compares
$4,340 in reported general payments places this provider in the 60th percentile of 429 cardiovascular disease providers in Tennessee.
Most prescribed under Part D
| Drug | Claims | Cost to plans & patients |
|---|---|---|
| EliquisApixaban | 146 | $139,447 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 98 | $104,419 |
| EntrestoSacubitril/Valsartan | 44 | $43,775 |
| Repatha SureclickEvolocumab | 29 | $16,321 |
| Metoprolol Succinate | 137 | $1,873 |
| Flecainide Acetate | 19 | $1,332 |
| Prasugrel Hcl | 21 | $1,319 |
| Eplerenone | 11 | $887 |
| Ezetimibe | 65 | $886 |
| Rosuvastatin Calcium | 89 | $828 |
| Valsartan | 23 | $755 |
| Pravastatin Sodium | 32 | $708 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 74 | $654 |
| Losartan Potassium | 54 | $505 |
| ClopidogrelClopidogrel Bisulfate | 51 | $467 |
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 | $277 | $139,447146 claims |
| Johnson & JohnsonXarelto | $662 | $104,41998 claims |
| NovartisEntresto | $818 | $43,77544 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 429 cardiovascular disease providers in Tennessee.
Other cardiovascular disease in Knoxville
- Benjamin SheppleKnoxville$635K
- Kashif ShaikhKnoxville$160K
- Jeffrey JohnsonKnoxville$94K
- Brian LindmanNashville$5.5M
- David MetzgerKingsport$4.8M
- Christopher EllisNashville$4.1M
- Dinesh GuptaNashville$3.2M
- Joann LindenfeldNashville$2.2M
- Frank McGrewMemphis$2.1M
- Rebecca HungNashville$1.8M
Where these figures come from
- Payments: CMS Open Payments, program years 2019–2025 (publication P06302026_06032026).
- Identity: NPPES NPI Registry, July 2026.