Stephen Pickett, MD
Interventional Cardiology · Houston, TXNPI 1417336199
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 474 payments — averaging $61.97 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Abbott$16K
- Boston Scientific$2K
- Edwards Lifesciences$2K
- Abiomed$2K
- Medtronic$1K
- Amgen$870
- plus $6K from 33 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$3,38212%
- Food & beverage$25,60887%
- Education$3851%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Abbott | 159 | $16,048 |
| Boston Scientific | 41 | $2,115 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 24 | $1,714 |
| Abiomed | 15 | $1,643 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 15 | $1,396 |
| Amgen | 32 | $870 |
| Novartis | 55 | $751 |
| Cvrx, Inc. | 4 | $574 |
| Inari Medical, Inc. | 5 | $449 |
| Cardiovascular Systems Inc. | 4 | $417 |
| Merck | 25 | $412 |
| Shockwave Medical, Inc | 3 | $403 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 20 | $354 |
| Biotronik Inc. | 2 | $303 |
| Impulse Dynamics (USA) Inc. | 2 | $273 |
| Scpharmaceuticals Inc. | 11 | $244 |
| Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. | 4 | $166 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 8 | $140 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 4 | $125 |
| Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals International, PLC | 4 | $116 |
| Penumbra, Inc. | 1 | $96 |
| Pfizer | 6 | $96 |
| Irhythm Technologies, Inc. | 4 | $93 |
| Bridgebio Pharma, Inc. | 2 | $89 |
| Heartflow, Inc. | 3 | $73 |
| Novo Nordisk | 3 | $62 |
| AstraZeneca | 4 | $62 |
| Innovation Technologies Inc | 2 | $48 |
| Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 2 | $39 |
| Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. | 1 | $28 |
| Inspire Medical Systems, Inc. | 1 | $27 |
| Bayer | 1 | $24 |
| Astellas Pharma US Inc | 1 | $24 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 1 | $20 |
| Atricure, Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| Angiodynamics, Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| Chiesi USA, Inc. | 1 | $15 |
| Lantheus Medical Imaging, Inc. | 1 | $15 |
| GE HealthCare | 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.
- Ensite Cardiac Mapping System$2,678
- GALLANT$1,340
- SUPERA$1,274
- Impella$1,211
- QUADRA ASSURA$968
- Fortify Assura, Ellipse ICD$830
- Quadra Assura CRT Defibrillator$811
- CardioMEMS HF System$691
- Accent Pacemaker$656
- Confirm Rx$578
- FLOWTRIEVER CATHETER, S$517
- Fortify Assura$515
- Barostim Neo System$481
- AVEIR$422
- OPTIMIZER$370
- ONYX FRONTIER$345
- Shockwave IVL System with the Shockwave C2 Coronary IVL Catheter$328
- Micra$304
- SYMPLICITY G3$301
- CT THROMBECTOMY SYSTEM KIT$294
How this compares
$29,375 in reported general payments places this provider in the 70th percentile of 686 interventional cardiology providers in Texas.
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 | 511 | $690,751 |
| EntrestoSacubitril/Valsartan | 159 | $249,341 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 154 | $208,496 |
| BrilintaTicagrelor | 70 | $60,339 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 38 | $59,826 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 20 | $29,586 |
| Repatha SureclickEvolocumab | 37 | $23,465 |
| MultaqDronedarone Hcl | 19 | $21,282 |
| OzempicSemaglutide | 13 | $18,026 |
| Rosuvastatin Calcium | 777 | $12,670 |
| Repatha SyringeEvolocumab | 14 | $11,163 |
| Telmisartan | 355 | $9,725 |
| Metoprolol Succinate | 482 | $8,784 |
| ClopidogrelClopidogrel Bisulfate | 558 | $7,376 |
| Nifedipine ErNifedipine | 114 | $6,881 |
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 | $96 | $690,751511 claims |
| NovartisEntresto | $751 | $249,341159 claims |
| Johnson & JohnsonXarelto | $354 | $208,496154 claims |
| AstraZenecaBrilinta, Farxiga | $62 | $120,165108 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance | $20 | $29,58620 claims |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLCMultaq | $125 | $21,28219 claims |
| Novo NordiskOzempic | $62 | $18,02613 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 70th percentile of 686 interventional cardiology providers in Texas.
Other interventional cardiology in Houston
- Neal KleimanHouston$4.8M
- Juan GranadaHouston$4.3M
- Abhijeet DhobleHouston$2.7M
- John IsaacHouston$1.8M
- Amir KashaniHouston$1.3M
- Biswajit KarHouston$785K
- Michele SartoriHouston$603K
- Guilherme SilvaHouston$516K
- Sachin KumarHouston$446K
- Marwan JumeanHouston$427K
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.