Has Thomas Chen, MD received payments from drug or device companies?

Yes. Drug and device makers reported $1,346 in general payments to Thomas Chen, MD across 16 transactions between 2019–2025. Most Open Payments records nationally are meals worth under $20; a reported payment is not evidence of wrongdoing.

Does a payment mean Thomas Chen, MD did something wrong?

No. Federal law requires drug and device makers to report almost every transfer of value to a physician, including a $14 sandwich at a lunch presentation. Consulting fees, research funding and royalties to device inventors are ordinary, legal parts of medicine. This site reports what was disclosed; it makes no allegation.

Where does this information about Thomas Chen, MD come from?

The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Payments come from Open Payments, published under the Physician Payments Sunshine Act. Billing and prescribing figures come from the Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners and Part D Prescriber public use files for 2024.

Thomas Chen, MD

Nephrology · Honolulu, HINPI 1457575417

Payments from drug & device makers

What this record shows

Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 100.0% of the total across 16 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. 10 manufacturers reported payments, led by Nxstage Medical, Inc. at 29.3% of the total. 2025 is the largest year on record at $510, 5.0 times the $102 reported in 2019. That places this record below the midpoint for nephrology clinicians in HI, where the typical reported total is $2,126.

$1,346in general payments, 2019–2025

Across 16 payments — averaging $84.12 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.

Nxstage Medical, Inc.$394
Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.$137
Novartis$133
Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc.$125
Travere Therapeutics, Inc.$125
Outset Medical Inc$124
plus $308 from 4 others

What the payments were for

Food & beverage$1,346100%

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
Nxstage Medical, Inc.	7	$394
Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.	1	$137
Novartis	1	$133
Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc.	1	$125
Travere Therapeutics, Inc.	1	$125
Outset Medical Inc	1	$124
Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC	1	$112
Bayer	1	$84
Veloxis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.	1	$69
Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc.	1	$43

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

$1,346 in reported general payments places this provider in the 40th percentile of 57 nephrology providers in Hawaii.

See all nephrology providers in Hawaii →

Medicare billing

Part B allowed, 2024

$18,310

Medicare patients

Services billed

150

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
Sevelamer Carbonate	184	$48,234
JardianceEmpagliflozin	57	$29,297
ProcritEpoetin Alfa	34	$18,410
Midodrine Hcl	39	$2,860
Losartan Potassium	177	$2,854
Calcium Acetate	27	$2,521
Humulin NInsulin Nph Human Isophane	12	$1,292
Furosemide	68	$1,260
Lidocaine-PrilocaineLidocaine/Prilocaine	55	$1,246
Fludrocortisone Acetate	12	$1,168
Amlodipine Besylate	72	$1,070
Lisinopril	45	$658
Allopurinol	80	$577
Calcitriol	22	$514
Atorvastatin Calcium	44	$467

Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.

Other nephrology in Honolulu

Kunal ParekhHonolulu$172K
Christie IzutsuHonolulu$50K
Jared SugiharaHonolulu$39K
Eugene WongHonolulu$37K
Shiuh ChengHonolulu$21K
Leilani Ka'aneheHonolulu$10K
Antonette Veronica HernandezHonolulu$9K
Rick HayashiHonolulu$5K
David NaaiHonolulu$5K
Arie Olivo GanzHonolulu$5K

See the full list for Hawaii →

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.

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