Nicole Higel-Backes
Family · Sarasota, FLNPI 1437702339
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — food and beverage (52.8%), speaking fees and travel and lodging — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 11 manufacturers reported payments, led by Edwards Lifesciences at 46.9% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2023 at $6,395 and has fallen 77.3% since, to $1,451 in 2025. Among family clinicians in FL 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 171 payments — averaging $74.98 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Edwards Lifesciences$6K
- ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp)$4K
- Abbott$2K
- Boston Scientific$614
- Medtronic$204
- Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc$198
- plus $276 from 5 others
What the payments were for
- Speaking & faculty fees$3,00023%
- Travel & lodging$2,88923%
- Food & beverage$6,77653%
- Education$1571%
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 | 101 | $6,009 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 16 | $3,612 |
| Abbott | 11 | $1,909 |
| Boston Scientific | 28 | $614 |
| Medtronic | 3 | $204 |
| Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc | 2 | $198 |
| Abiomed | 1 | $107 |
| Pfizer | 3 | $53 |
| Biotronik Inc. | 2 | $45 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 2 | $40 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 2 | $31 |
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.
- LifeVest$3,100
- MitraClip$1,500
- Edwards SAPIEN 3 Transcatheter Heart Valve$1,216
- PASCAL$349
- SAPIEN 3 Ultra RESILIA$243
- SYMPLICITY G3$168
- Watchman$125
- Impella$107
How this compares
$12,822 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 14,618 family providers in Florida.
Other family in Sarasota
- Marie ZambelliSarasota$65K
- Lewis HarringtonTampa$954K
- Danielle PharesFt Lauderdale$713K
- Donna OrtizOrlando$417K
- Patrick SzarazMiami$327K
- Deena RodneyMaitland$323K
- Yamila MelendezMiami$212K
- Holly BoydLand O Lakes$200K
- Rachael BuschLoxahatchee$189K
- Victor Tatis de la NuezMiramar$161K
Where these figures come from
- Payments: CMS Open Payments, program years 2019–2025 (publication P06302026_06032026).
- Identity: NPPES NPI Registry, July 2026.