RxDoctor Payments Data

Steven Burka, MD

Nephrology · Chevy Chase, MDNPI 1033103114

Payments from drug & device makers

What this record shows

Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 94.1% of the total across 319 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. It is spread thinly across 27 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 21.4% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations. Among nephrology clinicians in MD 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.

$7,527in general payments, 2019–2025

Across 319 payments — averaging $23.60 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.

  • Vifor Pharma, Inc.$2K
  • Bayer$844
  • Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc.$526
  • Amgen$518
  • AstraZeneca$487
  • Travere Therapeutics, Inc.$433
  • plus $3K from 21 others

What the payments were for

  • Food & beverage$7,08694%
  • Education$4416%

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

19
20
21
22
23
24
25

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.

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

$7,527 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 285 nephrology providers in Maryland.

See all nephrology providers in Maryland

Medicare billing

Part B allowed, 2024
$367,440
Medicare patients
742
Services billed
3,869

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

DrugClaimsCost to plans & patients
FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol165$178,773
VeltassaPatiromer Calcium Sorbitex95$148,066
KerendiaFinerenone117$136,200
JardianceEmpagliflozin29$38,511
Cinacalcet Hcl39$26,987
Sevelamer Carbonate63$14,892
EliquisApixaban19$12,883
Eplerenone72$5,967
DayvigoLemborexant13$4,447
Spironolactone335$3,958
Calcitriol148$3,146
Allopurinol238$2,181
Paricalcitol13$1,818
Amlodipine Besylate165$1,404
Midodrine Hcl15$1,256

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.

CompanyPaid to this providerPart D cost of their drugs
AstraZenecaFarxiga$487$178,773165 claims
BayerKerendia$844$136,200117 claims
Boehringer IngelheimJardiance$109$38,51129 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 285 nephrology providers in Maryland.

Other nephrology in Chevy Chase

See the full list for Maryland

Where these figures come from

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