Melissa Smith
Acute Care · Webster, TXNPI 1043759681
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $7,020 of the $8,430 with a category attached, or 83.3%. 29 manufacturers reported payments, led by Abbott at 33.0% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2024 at $2,733 and has fallen 70.9% since, to $794 in 2025. Among acute care clinicians in TX 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 279 payments — averaging $30.22 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Abbott$3K
- Boston Scientific$2K
- Merck$448
- ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp)$299
- Amgen$296
- AstraZeneca$273
- plus $2K from 23 others
What the payments were for
- Speaking & faculty fees$87010%
- Travel & lodging$5406%
- Food & beverage$7,02083%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Abbott | 105 | $2,786 |
| Boston Scientific | 21 | $2,170 |
| Merck | 17 | $448 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 15 | $299 |
| Amgen | 18 | $296 |
| AstraZeneca | 11 | $273 |
| Impulse Dynamics (USA) Inc. | 5 | $254 |
| Abiomed | 3 | $214 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 12 | $213 |
| Novartis | 10 | $187 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 2 | $167 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 9 | $162 |
| Tactile Systems Technology Inc | 9 | $148 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 7 | $121 |
| Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc. | 5 | $103 |
| Bayer | 5 | $94 |
| Amarin Pharma, Inc. | 4 | $91 |
| Arbor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 6 | $79 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 2 | $48 |
| Novo Nordisk | 2 | $47 |
| Cvrx, Inc. | 2 | $40 |
| Kestra Medical Technology Services, Inc. | 2 | $37 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 1 | $29 |
| Irhythm Technologies, Inc. | 1 | $23 |
| Astellas Pharma US Inc | 1 | $23 |
| Scpharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $21 |
| Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $21 |
| Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $19 |
| Azurity Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 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.
How this compares
$8,430 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 2,323 acute care providers in Texas.
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 | 18 | $27,251 |
| BrilintaTicagrelor | 14 | $6,318 |
| Metoprolol Succinate | 46 | $920 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 58 | $724 |
| ClopidogrelClopidogrel Bisulfate | 29 | $282 |
| Rosuvastatin Calcium | 27 | $279 |
| Diltiazem 24hr Er (Cd)Diltiazem Hcl | 11 | $242 |
| Losartan Potassium | 15 | $222 |
| Carvedilol | 14 | $211 |
| Spironolactone | 14 | $211 |
| Valsartan | 15 | $210 |
| Metoprolol Tartrate | 22 | $200 |
| Amlodipine Besylate | 16 | $122 |
| Furosemide | 17 | $90 |
| Lisinopril | 13 | $64 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| AstraZenecaBrilinta | $273 | $6,31814 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 2,323 acute care providers in Texas.
Other acute care in Webster
- Jennifer PilotteDallas$232K
- Christie MorrisonSan Antonio$225K
- Amanda BradleyDallas$85K
- Laura WilsonEl Paso$32K
- Kim HuynhCypress$29K
- Martha LibertyDallas$28K
- Afton DickersonHouston$27K
- Eleanor WeltgeHouston$25K
- Bahia ElkamandSugar Land$23K
- Rachael SchneiderDallas$20K
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.