Paulino Alvarez
Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology · Iowa City, IANPI 1073874210
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $1,074 of the $1,772 with a category attached, or 60.6%. 7 manufacturers reported payments, led by Medical Device Business Services, Inc. at 38.5% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $635 and has fallen 69.3% since, to $195 in 2025.
Across 19 payments — averaging $93.27 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Medical Device Business Services, Inc.$681
- Abbott$644
- Cvrx, Inc.$169
- Edwards Lifesciences$133
- Heartflow, Inc.$116
- ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp)$15
- plus $15 from 1 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$171%
- Food & beverage$1,07461%
- Education$68138%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Medical Device Business Services, Inc. | 4 | $681 |
| Abbott | 10 | $644 |
| Cvrx, Inc. | 1 | $169 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 1 | $133 |
| Heartflow, Inc. | 1 | $116 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 1 | $15 |
| Neuronetics, 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
Too few advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology providers in Iowato place this figure against a meaningful peer group, so we don't.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| VyndamaxTafamidis | 181 | $4,058,321 |
| EntrestoSacubitril/Valsartan | 358 | $473,830 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 390 | $455,971 |
| VyndaqelTafamidis Meglumine | 12 | $260,493 |
| EliquisApixaban | 217 | $245,027 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 55 | $57,751 |
| NexletolBempedoic Acid | 22 | $15,071 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 13 | $11,211 |
| Metoprolol Succinate | 452 | $6,809 |
| Torsemide | 197 | $3,544 |
| Potassium Chloride | 80 | $2,999 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 160 | $1,981 |
| Isosorbide Dinitrate | 38 | $1,979 |
| Carvedilol | 153 | $1,489 |
| Spironolactone | 237 | $1,471 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology in Iowa City
- Linda CadaretIowa City$14K
- Pavida PachariyanonIowa City$11K
- Ernesto Ruiz DuqueIowa City$8K
- Serkan BekturIowa City$5K
- Alexandros BriasoulisIowa City$725
- Kelly Ann Light McGroaryIowa City$440
- Ily Kristine YumulIowa City$247
- Frances JohnsonIowa City$111
- Mansour EsmaeiliIowa City$26
- Akrivi ManolaDes Moines$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.