Joseph Aiello, MD
Nephrology · Asheville, NCNPI 1942203310
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $267 of the $383 with a category attached, or 69.6%. 5 manufacturers reported payments, led by Medtronic at 39.4% of the total. 2025 is the largest year on record at $269, 3.0 times the $90 reported in 2019. That places this record below the midpoint for nephrology clinicians in NC, where the typical reported total is $1,119.
Across 7 payments — averaging $54.78 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Medtronic$151
- Abbott$116
- Mallinckrodt Enterprises LLC$90
- Amgen$20
- Travere Therapeutics, Inc.$7
Across 95 payments — averaging $6643.04 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.
- Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH$295K
- Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co.kg$177K
- Gilead$116K
- GSK$23K
- Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc.$12K
- Vertex$6K
- plus $2K from 1 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$26770%
- Education$11730%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Medtronic | 2 | $151 |
| Abbott | 1 | $116 |
| Mallinckrodt Enterprises LLC | 1 | $90 |
| Amgen | 1 | $20 |
| Travere Therapeutics, Inc. | 2 | $7 |
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.
- CARDIOMEMS$116
- SYMPLICITY G3$103
How this compares
$383 in reported general payments places this provider in the 30th percentile of 366 nephrology 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 |
|---|---|---|
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 36 | $27,759 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 27 | $22,708 |
| EliquisApixaban | 16 | $18,086 |
| Sevelamer Carbonate | 25 | $3,261 |
| Bumetanide | 66 | $2,968 |
| Telmisartan | 90 | $1,922 |
| Chlorthalidone | 173 | $1,523 |
| Amlodipine Besylate | 154 | $1,171 |
| Losartan Potassium | 91 | $879 |
| Spironolactone | 100 | $577 |
| Calcitriol | 39 | $562 |
| Metoprolol Succinate | 19 | $557 |
| Olmesartan Medoxomil | 16 | $517 |
| Carvedilol | 37 | $435 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 44 | $424 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other nephrology in Asheville
- Nam VoAsheville$89K
- Gregory GreenwoodWinston-Salem$947K
- Michael EtomiCharlotte$212K
- William KendrickGreenville$125K
- Jason EckelCary$123K
- Raven VooraSanford$111K
- Jennifer StoddardPinehurst$77K
- Barry FreedmanWinston Salem$67K
- James McCabeWilmington$56K
- Sammy MoghaziRaleigh$56K
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.