Melissa Wells, MD
Rheumatology · Ames, IANPI 1134440886
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $26 of the $40 with a category attached, or 65.2%. Every reported general payment came from a single manufacturer, Amgen. That places this record below the midpoint for rheumatology clinicians in IA, where the typical reported total is $162.
Across 2 payments — averaging $19.95 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Amgen$40
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$2665%
- Education$1435%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Amgen(2 entities) | 2 | $40 |
How this compares
$40 in reported general payments places this provider in the 25th percentile of 50 rheumatology providers in Iowa.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Humira(Cf) PenAdalimumab | 62 | $539,987 |
| Enbrel SureclickEtanercept | 37 | $286,051 |
| Xeljanz XrTofacitinib Citrate | 40 | $230,034 |
| RinvoqUpadacitinib | 16 | $118,333 |
| Humira(Cf)Adalimumab | 12 | $88,718 |
| Hydroxychloroquine Sulfate | 518 | $21,539 |
| MethotrexateMethotrexate Sodium | 716 | $19,768 |
| Leflunomide | 319 | $13,850 |
| Cevimeline Hcl | 37 | $6,295 |
| Pilocarpine Hcl | 65 | $5,122 |
| Mycophenolate Mofetil | 36 | $3,958 |
| Prednisone | 543 | $3,415 |
| Sulfasalazine | 123 | $2,840 |
| Colchicine | 72 | $2,639 |
| Celecoxib | 75 | $2,156 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other rheumatology in Ames
- Alejandra Londono JimenezAmes$120
- David GerbrachtAmes$0
- Paul RothmanIowa City$217K
- Hanna ZembrzuskaIowa City$30K
- George IsaacDubuque$5K
- Christopher RonkarUrbandale$5K
- Sunita PenmatchaBettendorf$4K
- Mudappa KalaiahBettendorf$4K
- David StaubBettendorf$3K
- Adnan KianiCedar Rapids$2K
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.