Kenneth Nielson, MD
Cardiovascular Disease · Salt Lake City, UTNPI 1063404929
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 90.6% of the total across 476 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. It is spread thinly across 33 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 20.6% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $2,747 and has fallen 68.8% since, to $856 in 2025.
Across 476 payments — averaging $19.19 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Boston Scientific$2K
- Amgen$1K
- Novartis$843
- E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C.$837
- Johnson & Johnson$822
- Pfizer$667
- plus $3K from 27 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$8189%
- Food & beverage$8,27391%
- Education$440%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Boston Scientific | 40 | $1,882 |
| Amgen | 52 | $1,024 |
| Novartis | 50 | $843 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 70 | $837 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 48 | $822 |
| Pfizer | 47 | $667 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 30 | $538 |
| Merck | 22 | $363 |
| Philips North America LLC | 15 | $328 |
| Chiesi USA, Inc. | 11 | $211 |
| AstraZeneca | 15 | $180 |
| Amarin Pharma, Inc. | 11 | $173 |
| Bayer | 9 | $154 |
| Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc. | 9 | $138 |
| Heartflow, Inc. | 4 | $124 |
| Abbott | 4 | $110 |
| Gilead | 6 | $109 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 6 | $96 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 5 | $78 |
| Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 3 | $61 |
| Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc. | 3 | $51 |
| Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals International, PLC | 2 | $48 |
| Lantheus Medical Imaging, Inc. | 2 | $44 |
| Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. | 2 | $42 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 2 | $37 |
| Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $34 |
| Inspire Medical Systems, Inc. | 1 | $27 |
| Atricure, Inc. | 1 | $26 |
| Impulse Dynamics (USA) Inc. | 1 | $24 |
| Scpharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $21 |
| Biotronik Inc. | 1 | $16 |
| Medtronic | 1 | $15 |
| Sanofi | 1 | $15 |
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.
- Watchman$1,209
How this compares
$9,135 in reported general payments places this provider in the 80th percentile of 131 cardiovascular disease providers in Utah.
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 | 705 | $920,922 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 205 | $262,300 |
| EntrestoSacubitril/Valsartan | 112 | $132,587 |
| Repatha SureclickEvolocumab | 150 | $113,169 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 103 | $93,629 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 14 | $15,875 |
| Repatha SyringeEvolocumab | 15 | $15,110 |
| Flecainide Acetate | 301 | $10,127 |
| BrilintaTicagrelor | 12 | $9,855 |
| Diltiazem 24hr Er (Cd)Diltiazem Hcl | 276 | $8,163 |
| Metoprolol Succinate | 656 | $7,799 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 810 | $7,497 |
| Losartan Potassium | 819 | $7,245 |
| Potassium Chloride | 405 | $7,025 |
| Ezetimibe | 148 | $5,636 |
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 | $667 | $920,922705 claims |
| Johnson & JohnsonXarelto | $822 | $262,300205 claims |
| NovartisEntresto | $843 | $132,587112 claims |
| AstraZenecaFarxiga, Brilinta | $180 | $103,483115 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance | $538 | $15,87514 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 80th percentile of 131 cardiovascular disease providers in Utah.
Other cardiovascular disease in Salt Lake City
- John RyanSalt Lake City$1.4M
- Robert FowlesSalt Lake City$611K
- Jeffrey OsbornSalt Lake City$69K
- James FangSalt Lake City$67K
- Hannah RaaschSalt Lake City$62K
- Benjamin PetersonSalt Lake City$39K
- Jeffrey AndersonSalt Lake City$19K
- Mehmet AkkayaSalt Lake City$18K
- Ashley GoodwinSalt Lake City$17K
- Edward GilbertSalt Lake City$16K
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.