Nicholas Costa, MD
Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology · Winston Salem, NCNPI 1629368931
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 479 payments — averaging $31.63 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Medtronic$5K
- Abbott$2K
- Biosense Webster, Inc.$1K
- Boston Scientific$1K
- Novartis$921
- Biotronik Inc.$625
- plus $4K from 15 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$3,38722%
- Food & beverage$11,73177%
- Education$340%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 98 | $5,203 |
| Abbott | 39 | $1,806 |
| Biosense Webster, Inc. | 33 | $1,478 |
| Boston Scientific | 53 | $1,438 |
| Novartis | 52 | $921 |
| Biotronik Inc. | 16 | $625 |
| Amgen | 30 | $599 |
| Cardiva Medical, Inc. | 32 | $529 |
| AstraZeneca | 25 | $445 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 26 | $440 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 17 | $333 |
| Atricure, Inc. | 6 | $316 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 17 | $296 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 19 | $292 |
| Philips North America LLC | 2 | $149 |
| Vital Connect, Inc | 4 | $83 |
| Pfizer | 4 | $81 |
| Novo Nordisk | 3 | $57 |
| Merck | 1 | $23 |
| Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 1 | $21 |
| Portola Pharmaceuticals, LLC | 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.
- AMPLATZER AMULET$997
- Carto 3$612
- GENERAL - THERAPIES$317
- Evera$156
- EPI-SENSE GUIDED COAGULATION SYSTEM WITH VISITRAX$138
- NA$111
- Edora 8 DR-T$106
- Acticor 7 VR-T DX$106
- BioMonitor$106
How this compares
$15,152 in reported general payments places this provider in the 30th percentile of 98 clinical cardiac electrophysiology providers in North Carolina.
See all clinical cardiac electrophysiology providers in North Carolina →
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 | 525 | $537,214 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 80 | $101,520 |
| EntrestoSacubitril/Valsartan | 20 | $27,993 |
| MultaqDronedarone Hcl | 15 | $16,613 |
| Dofetilide | 24 | $6,502 |
| Metoprolol Succinate | 411 | $5,974 |
| Flecainide Acetate | 66 | $2,194 |
| Dabigatran EtexilateDabigatran Etexilate Mesylate | 13 | $1,984 |
| Diltiazem 24hr Er (Cd)Diltiazem Hcl | 70 | $1,917 |
| Amiodarone Hcl | 75 | $1,665 |
| Carvedilol | 60 | $500 |
| Digoxin | 19 | $412 |
| Metoprolol Tartrate | 72 | $378 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 32 | $275 |
| Rosuvastatin Calcium | 20 | $240 |
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 | $81 | $537,214525 claims |
| Johnson & JohnsonXarelto | $292 | $101,52080 claims |
| NovartisEntresto | $921 | $27,99320 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 98 clinical cardiac electrophysiology providers in North Carolina.
Other clinical cardiac electrophysiology in Winston Salem
- Prashant BhaveWinston Salem$348K
- Michael DruckerWinston Salem$294K
- Natalie BradfordWinston Salem$127K
- Lai Chow KokWinston Salem$107K
- George WaitsWinston Salem$55K
- David FitzgeraldWinston Salem$47K
- Bryon RuberyWinston Salem$45K
- Takeki SuzukiWinston Salem$30K
- Kashif ChaudhryWinston Salem$19K
- Rafael CavalcantiWinston Salem$19K
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.