Joseph Halpern, MD
Emergency Medicine · Annapolis, MDNPI 1164536447
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 100.0% of the total across 348 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. 30 manufacturers reported payments, led by AstraZeneca at 24.0% of the total. Among emergency medicine clinicians in MD 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 348 payments — averaging $23.41 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- AstraZeneca$2K
- GSK$951
- Amgen$889
- Novo Nordisk$606
- Bayer$437
- Biogen$412
- plus $3K from 24 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$8,147100%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| AstraZeneca | 39 | $1,959 |
| GSK | 44 | $951 |
| Amgen(2 entities) | 49 | $889 |
| Novo Nordisk | 32 | $606 |
| Bayer | 23 | $437 |
| Biogen | 21 | $412 |
| Pfizer | 21 | $342 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 20 | $342 |
| Novartis | 13 | $328 |
| AbbVie | 15 | $265 |
| Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 10 | $209 |
| Axsome Therapeutics, Inc. | 5 | $190 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 9 | $174 |
| Lundbeck LLC | 8 | $163 |
| ITI, Inc. (d/b/a Intra-cellular Therapies, Inc.) | 4 | $97 |
| Exact Sciences | 4 | $95 |
| Radius Health, Inc. | 1 | $91 |
| Astellas Pharma US Inc | 4 | $87 |
| Sumitomo Pharma America, Inc. | 3 | $75 |
| Nestle Healthcare Nutrition Inc. | 4 | $67 |
| Corcept Therapeutics | 2 | $61 |
| Kowa Pharmaceuticals America, Inc. | 2 | $52 |
| Amarin Pharma, Inc. | 3 | $49 |
| Shield Therapeutics Inc | 3 | $45 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 2 | $42 |
| Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 2 | $34 |
| Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc | 2 | $24 |
| Boston Scientific | 1 | $22 |
| TMS Neurohealth Centers Inc. | 1 | $21 |
| Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. | 1 | $18 |
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
$8,147 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 925 emergency medicine providers in Maryland.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| OzempicSemaglutide | 27 | $39,558 |
| EliquisApixaban | 27 | $26,273 |
| Trelegy ElliptaFluticasone/Umeclidin/Vilanter | 19 | $12,193 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 14 | $9,457 |
| Breztri AerosphereBudesonide/Glycopyr/Formoterol | 12 | $7,531 |
| Rosuvastatin Calcium | 151 | $3,146 |
| Valsartan | 108 | $2,929 |
| Clonidine | 23 | $2,545 |
| Doxepin Hcl | 17 | $1,984 |
| Metoprolol Succinate | 87 | $1,906 |
| Colestipol Hcl | 14 | $1,669 |
| Lisinopril | 118 | $1,403 |
| SynthroidLevothyroxine Sodium | 18 | $1,315 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 108 | $1,012 |
| Levothyroxine Sodium | 91 | $886 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Novo NordiskOzempic | $606 | $39,55827 claims |
| PfizerEliquis | $342 | $26,27327 claims |
| GSKTrelegy Ellipta | $951 | $12,19319 claims |
| AstraZenecaBreztri Aerosphere | $1,959 | $7,53112 claims |
| AbbVieSynthroid | $265 | $1,31518 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 925 emergency medicine providers in Maryland.
Other emergency medicine in Annapolis
- Robert CorderAnnapolis$2K
- Leana WenBaltimore$2.2M
- Matthew LevyBaltimore$135K
- Puneet ChopraLaurel$98K
- Ron ElfenbeinBaltimore$60K
- Asa MargolisBaltimore$21K
- Benjamin BarlowGaithersburg$19K
- Paul Blake ObrienPrince Frederick$17K
- David ReitmanBethesda$16K
- Binoy MistryBaltimore$15K
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.