Michael Scala
Acute Care · Chicago, ILNPI 1649774126
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — food and beverage (59.0%), travel and lodging and education — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 11 manufacturers reported payments, led by Atricure, Inc. at 43.6% of the total. 2025 is the largest year on record at $2,112, 5.2 times the $408 reported in 2022. Among acute care clinicians in IL with any reported payments, this total sits in the top 10% — high for the specialty, which is a reason to read the composition above rather than the number alone.
Across 36 payments — averaging $83.94 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Atricure, Inc.$1K
- Medtronic$437
- Abiomed$390
- Abbott$377
- Briohealth Solutions, Inc.$155
- ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp)$151
- plus $194 from 5 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$1,13838%
- Food & beverage$1,78259%
- Education$1023%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Atricure, Inc. | 10 | $1,318 |
| Medtronic | 10 | $437 |
| Abiomed | 3 | $390 |
| Abbott | 4 | $377 |
| Briohealth Solutions, Inc. | 1 | $155 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 3 | $151 |
| Picard Medical Inc. | 1 | $102 |
| Amgen | 1 | $32 |
| La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company | 1 | $26 |
| Verona Pharma, Inc. | 1 | $20 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 1 | $14 |
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
$3,022 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 461 acute care providers in Illinois.
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 | 68 | $39,895 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 13 | $7,548 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 100 | $1,107 |
| Metoprolol Succinate | 57 | $929 |
| Amiodarone Hcl | 64 | $926 |
| ClopidogrelClopidogrel Bisulfate | 56 | $621 |
| Metoprolol Tartrate | 54 | $320 |
| Famotidine | 45 | $302 |
| Spironolactone | 30 | $237 |
| Potassium Chloride | 63 | $230 |
| Oxycodone Hcl | 55 | $214 |
| Carvedilol | 24 | $158 |
| Losartan Potassium | 18 | $133 |
| Furosemide | 68 | $60 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other acute care in Chicago
- Tedra GrayChicago$78K
- Gwen CassidyChicago$46K
- Erin DarguzasChicago$17K
- Sarah MiyataChicago$11K
- Katie MeadorChicago$10K
- Viktoriya KaganChicago$8K
- Laura RitchieChicago$5K
- Christine Joy LocquiaoChicago$5K
- Janice AmslerChicago$5K
- Julie MudgeChicago$3K
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.