Richard Choate, NP
Acute Care · Shreveport, LANPI 1770012478
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $5,982 of the $7,268 with a category attached, or 82.3%. It is spread thinly across 35 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 16.2% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations. 2025 is the largest year on record at $2,824, more than ten times the $144 reported in 2021. Among acute care clinicians in LA 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 296 payments — averaging $24.55 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Medtronic$1K
- Cvrx, Inc.$1K
- ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp)$533
- Pfizer$495
- Merck$417
- E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C.$389
- plus $3K from 29 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$1,28718%
- Food & beverage$5,98282%
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 | 25 | $1,175 |
| Cvrx, Inc. | 11 | $1,111 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 38 | $533 |
| Pfizer | 31 | $495 |
| Merck | 26 | $417 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 15 | $389 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 24 | $372 |
| Abbott | 10 | $329 |
| AstraZeneca(2 entities) | 10 | $265 |
| Inari Medical, Inc. | 15 | $236 |
| Abiomed | 8 | $210 |
| Stryker | 11 | $193 |
| Terumo Medical Corporation | 1 | $187 |
| Bayer | 9 | $170 |
| Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 8 | $127 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 5 | $119 |
| Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc. | 5 | $114 |
| Shockwave Medical, Inc | 5 | $111 |
| Boston Scientific | 6 | $106 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 5 | $87 |
| Bridgebio Pharma, Inc. | 4 | $83 |
| Novo Nordisk | 4 | $70 |
| Irhythm Technologies, Inc. | 2 | $56 |
| Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 3 | $53 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 2 | $38 |
| Novartis | 2 | $33 |
| Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals International, PLC | 2 | $32 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 2 | $29 |
| Itamar Medical Inc | 1 | $25 |
| Bracco Diagnostics Inc. | 1 | $21 |
| Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. | 1 | $19 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| Recor Medical Inc | 1 | $16 |
| Philips North America LLC | 1 | $15 |
| Scpharmaceuticals Inc. | 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.
- LINQ II$779
- Barostim Neo System$746
- CAMZYOS$125
- ANDEXXA$124
How this compares
$7,268 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 248 acute care providers in Louisiana.
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 | 57 | $1,332,448 |
| VyndaqelTafamidis Meglumine | 26 | $581,979 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 386 | $315,422 |
| EntrestoSacubitril/Valsartan | 336 | $292,726 |
| CamzyosMavacamten | 31 | $251,375 |
| EliquisApixaban | 95 | $70,162 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 34 | $26,185 |
| OzempicSemaglutide | 21 | $21,676 |
| VerquvoVericiguat | 29 | $19,305 |
| Repatha SureclickEvolocumab | 14 | $14,269 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 22 | $14,199 |
| BrilintaTicagrelor | 20 | $10,311 |
| Trelegy ElliptaFluticasone/Umeclidin/Vilanter | 12 | $9,139 |
| Bumetanide | 144 | $3,089 |
| Metoprolol Succinate | 238 | $2,656 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| PfizerVyndamax, Vyndaqel, Eliquis | $495 | $1,984,589178 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance | $372 | $315,422386 claims |
| NovartisEntresto | $33 | $292,726336 claims |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C.Camzyos | $389 | $251,37531 claims |
| AstraZenecaFarxiga, Brilinta | $265 | $36,49654 claims |
| Novo NordiskOzempic | $70 | $21,67621 claims |
| MerckVerquvo | $417 | $19,30529 claims |
| Johnson & JohnsonXarelto | $87 | $14,19922 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 90th percentile of 248 acute care providers in Louisiana.
Other acute care in Shreveport
- Brinton FegleyShreveport$61K
- Jeremy DavisShreveport$35K
- Heather MecomShreveport$17K
- Mary HireShreveport$11K
- Sammi SmithShreveport$10K
- Heather HebertShreveport$9K
- Jennifer NinhShreveport$6K
- Laurie SimmonsShreveport$5K
- Brandy RambinShreveport$5K
- April ChaseShreveport$4K
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.