Mark Sasse, MD
Interventional Cardiology · Birmingham, ALNPI 1427019843
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Edwards Lifesciences accounts for 65.9% of it on its own, with 12 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $1,829 and has fallen 90.1% since, to $181 in 2025. That places this record below the midpoint for interventional cardiology clinicians in AL, where the typical reported total is $6,630.
Across 51 payments — averaging $60.71 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Edwards Lifesciences$2K
- Inari Medical, Inc.$329
- Livanova USA, Inc.$150
- Pfizer$112
- Abiomed$100
- Irhythm Technologies, Inc.$93
- plus $272 from 7 others
Across 15 payments — averaging $2102.49 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.
- Boston Scientific$25K
- Abbott$6K
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$1,29942%
- Food & beverage$1,79858%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Edwards Lifesciences | 12 | $2,040 |
| Inari Medical, Inc. | 9 | $329 |
| Livanova USA, Inc. | 2 | $150 |
| Pfizer | 6 | $112 |
| Abiomed | 1 | $100 |
| Irhythm Technologies, Inc. | 5 | $93 |
| Novartis | 4 | $72 |
| Medtronic | 2 | $48 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 3 | $46 |
| Amgen | 3 | $42 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 2 | $27 |
| Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $24 |
| Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. | 1 | $13 |
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
$3,096 in reported general payments places this provider in the 30th percentile of 109 interventional cardiology providers in Alabama.
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 | 258 | $266,563 |
| EntrestoSacubitril/Valsartan | 239 | $232,057 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 123 | $130,442 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 62 | $63,121 |
| Trelegy ElliptaFluticasone/Umeclidin/Vilanter | 81 | $59,374 |
| MultaqDronedarone Hcl | 20 | $32,914 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 31 | $31,279 |
| Ranolazine ErRanolazine | 217 | $22,636 |
| BrilintaTicagrelor | 12 | $13,293 |
| Ezetimibe | 375 | $11,031 |
| NexletolBempedoic Acid | 21 | $8,500 |
| Bisoprolol Fumarate | 218 | $7,129 |
| Carvedilol | 571 | $6,475 |
| Midodrine Hcl | 73 | $6,419 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 394 | $6,145 |
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 | $112 | $266,563258 claims |
| NovartisEntresto | $72 | $232,057239 claims |
| Johnson & JohnsonXarelto | $27 | $63,12162 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 30th percentile of 109 interventional cardiology providers in Alabama.
Other interventional cardiology in Birmingham
- Gary RoubinBirmingham$157K
- Robert FosterBirmingham$90K
- Hasan GuvenBirmingham$86K
- Abdullah MahmoodBirmingham$61K
- Ali EbrahimiBirmingham$55K
- Jacob TownsendBirmingham$52K
- Kamran AliBirmingham$47K
- Mouhamed SabouniBirmingham$44K
- David SchultzBirmingham$19K
- Tushar MishraBirmingham$17K
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.