Stuart Higano, MD
Interventional Cardiology · Saint Louis, MONPI 1114998978
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 183 payments — averaging $36.57 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Abiomed$1K
- Boston Scientific$846
- Medtronic$525
- Amgen$394
- Abbott$366
- Edwards Lifesciences$296
- plus $3K from 25 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$210%
- Travel & lodging$1,07216%
- Food & beverage$5,59484%
- 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Abiomed | 2 | $1,072 |
| Boston Scientific | 13 | $846 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 7 | $525 |
| Amgen | 22 | $394 |
| Abbott | 4 | $366 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 2 | $296 |
| Shockwave Medical, Inc | 12 | $282 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 22 | $278 |
| Novartis | 14 | $277 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 16 | $275 |
| Biotronik Inc. | 2 | $268 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 9 | $256 |
| Heartflow, Inc. | 3 | $253 |
| Cvrx, Inc. | 3 | $208 |
| Philips North America LLC | 4 | $189 |
| AstraZeneca | 10 | $175 |
| Cardiovascular Systems Inc. | 5 | $173 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 6 | $96 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 5 | $91 |
| Pfizer | 5 | $65 |
| Chiesi USA, Inc. | 3 | $51 |
| Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc. | 3 | $43 |
| Cardinal Health 200 LLC | 2 | $42 |
| Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc. | 2 | $36 |
| Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $29 |
| Portola Pharmaceuticals, LLC | 1 | $27 |
| Z-medica, LLC | 1 | $21 |
| Merck | 1 | $17 |
| Teleflex LLC | 1 | $17 |
| Novo Nordisk | 1 | $13 |
| Amarin Pharma, Inc. | 1 | $11 |
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.
- Impella$1,072
- AVVIGO Guidance System$403
- FFRct$239
- Shockwave IVL System with the Shockwave C2 Coronary IVL Catheter$187
- AMPLATZER AMULET$182
- Barostim Neo System$173
- SYMPLICITY G3$173
- RESOLUTE ONYX$152
- IVUS Systems$148
- Rivacor$144
- BioMonitor$144
- Solia$144
- Edora$144
- Acticor$144
- Supera peripheral stent system$143
- Coronary Orbital Atherectomy System$125
- Resolute$123
- LifeVest$114
How this compares
$6,693 in reported general payments places this provider in the 30th percentile of 182 interventional cardiology providers in Missouri.
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 | 311 | $358,321 |
| EntrestoSacubitril/Valsartan | 155 | $171,054 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 105 | $124,079 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 78 | $78,655 |
| Repatha SureclickEvolocumab | 93 | $76,266 |
| BrilintaTicagrelor | 69 | $62,906 |
| NexletolBempedoic Acid | 47 | $33,062 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 34 | $28,018 |
| Praluent PenAlirocumab | 34 | $19,678 |
| VascepaIcosapent Ethyl | 29 | $17,641 |
| Repatha SyringeEvolocumab | 31 | $16,151 |
| Ranolazine ErRanolazine | 64 | $8,902 |
| Rosuvastatin Calcium | 541 | $7,041 |
| Icosapent Ethyl | 28 | $6,340 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 504 | $5,038 |
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 | $65 | $358,321311 claims |
| NovartisEntresto | $277 | $171,054155 claims |
| AstraZenecaFarxiga, Brilinta | $175 | $141,560147 claims |
| Johnson & JohnsonXarelto | $278 | $124,079105 claims |
| Esperion Therapeutics, Inc.Nexletol | $29 | $33,06247 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance | $96 | $28,01834 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 30th percentile of 182 interventional cardiology providers in Missouri.
Other interventional cardiology in Saint Louis
- Harvey SerotaSaint Louis$7.1M
- Gil VardiSaint Louis$2M
- Alan ZajariasSaint Louis$1.6M
- Anish ThomasSaint Louis$1.5M
- Richard BachSaint Louis$1.5M
- John LasalaSaint Louis$995K
- Jasvindar SinghSaint Louis$993K
- George KichuraSaint Louis$811K
- Usman QayyumSaint Louis$721K
- Marc SintekSaint Louis$552K
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.