Scott Polster, MD
Family Medicine · Hickory, NCNPI 1417936048
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 435 payments — averaging $5863.19 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Pfizer$1.6M
- Amgen$527K
- GSK$387K
- Regeneron$33K
- Tolmar, Inc.$15K
- AstraZeneca$286
- plus $736 from 20 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$97436%
- Food & beverage$1,74664%
- Education$60%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pfizer | 260 | $1,586,697 |
| Amgen | 3 | $527,395 |
| GSK | 71 | $387,114 |
| Regeneron | 23 | $32,771 |
| Tolmar, Inc. | 11 | $15,490 |
| AstraZeneca | 19 | $286 |
| Novo Nordisk | 13 | $170 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 5 | $64 |
| Phathom Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 5 | $61 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 3 | $59 |
| Astellas Pharma US Inc | 4 | $50 |
| Abbott | 2 | $48 |
| Dexcom, Inc. | 2 | $46 |
| Genentech USA, Inc. | 2 | $34 |
| Boston Scientific | 1 | $26 |
| Bayer | 1 | $22 |
| Lundbeck LLC | 1 | $21 |
| Shire North American Group Inc | 1 | $19 |
| ITI, Inc. (d/b/a Intra-cellular Therapies, Inc.) | 1 | $19 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 1 | $18 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| Exact Sciences | 1 | $16 |
| Amarin Pharma, Inc. | 1 | $12 |
| Kaleo, Inc. | 1 | $12 |
| Promius Pharma LLC | 1 | $11 |
| AbbVie | 1 | $11 |
How this compares
$2,550,488 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 3,444 family medicine 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 |
|---|---|---|
| OzempicSemaglutide | 53 | $75,173 |
| JanuviaSitagliptin Phosphate | 60 | $41,607 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 41 | $38,037 |
| EliquisApixaban | 13 | $18,616 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 22 | $18,258 |
| Basaglar Kwikpen U-100Insulin Glargine,hum.Rec.Anlog | 28 | $15,906 |
| MyrbetriqMirabegron | 27 | $15,664 |
| Soliqua 100-33Insulin Glargine/Lixisenatide | 13 | $10,941 |
| Bydureon BciseExenatide Microspheres | 13 | $10,333 |
| SymbicortBudesonide/Formoterol Fumarate | 21 | $4,819 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 624 | $4,118 |
| SynthroidLevothyroxine Sodium | 48 | $3,563 |
| Lantus SolostarInsulin Glargine,hum.Rec.Anlog | 45 | $3,312 |
| Potassium Chloride | 126 | $3,301 |
| Ezetimibe | 189 | $2,852 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Novo NordiskOzempic | $170 | $75,17353 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance | $59 | $38,03741 claims |
| AstraZenecaFarxiga, Symbicort | $286 | $23,07743 claims |
| PfizerEliquis | $1,586,697 | $18,61613 claims |
| Astellas Pharma US IncMyrbetriq | $50 | $15,66427 claims |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLCSoliqua 100-33 | $18 | $10,94113 claims |
| AbbVieSynthroid | $11 | $3,56348 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 95th percentile of 3,444 family medicine providers in North Carolina.
Other family medicine in Hickory
- Jonathan WilsonHickory$12.7M
- John EarlHickory$4.7M
- Robert HartHickory$636K
- Barton WilliamsWilmington$17.3M
- Alexander MurrayGreensboro$13M
- Arin PiramzadianJacksonville$13M
- George RaadCharlotte$7.7M
- Cecil FarringtonSalisbury$6.4M
- Christian MartinShelby$5.4M
- Patrick MorganteHavelock$4.6M
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.