Venkata Behara, MD
Nephrology · Mount Prospect, ILNPI 1376728113
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $4,610 of the $5,234 with a category attached, or 88.1%. It is spread thinly across 30 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 12.2% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations.
Across 182 payments — averaging $28.76 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- AstraZeneca$640
- Vifor Pharma, Inc.$589
- Nxstage Medical, Inc.$577
- Mallinckrodt Enterprises LLC$568
- Amgen$492
- Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc.$255
- plus $2K from 24 others
Across 25 payments — averaging $6452.93 each. Payments tied to a research study. These frequently flow through the physician to a hospital or research institution rather than to the physician personally.
- GSK$158K
- Janssen Research & Development, LLC$3K
What the payments were for
- Speaking & faculty fees$50010%
- Food & beverage$4,61088%
- Education$1252%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| AstraZeneca(2 entities) | 28 | $640 |
| Vifor Pharma, Inc. | 27 | $589 |
| Nxstage Medical, Inc. | 9 | $577 |
| Mallinckrodt Enterprises LLC | 6 | $568 |
| Amgen(2 entities) | 19 | $492 |
| Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 11 | $255 |
| Novartis | 8 | $220 |
| Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc. | 4 | $212 |
| Bayer | 8 | $201 |
| Calliditas Therapeutics US Inc. | 9 | $194 |
| Travere Therapeutics, Inc. | 6 | $185 |
| Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc. | 7 | $145 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 6 | $120 |
| Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc. | 5 | $110 |
| Creo Medical Inc. | 1 | $100 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 4 | $93 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 4 | $86 |
| Aurinia Pharma U.S., Inc. | 3 | $84 |
| Scpharmaceuticals Inc. | 2 | $56 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 2 | $46 |
| Ardelyx, Inc. | 2 | $43 |
| OPKO Pharmaceuticals, LLC | 2 | $31 |
| Akebia Therapeutics Inc | 1 | $30 |
| Arbor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 2 | $29 |
| Amarin Pharma, Inc. | 1 | $24 |
| Cycle Pharmaceuticals Inc | 1 | $23 |
| Genentech USA, Inc. | 1 | $22 |
| GSK | 1 | $21 |
| Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. | 1 | $20 |
| Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $17 |
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.
- ACTHAR$500
- NXSTAGE SYSTEM ONE$229
- TERLIVAZ$145
- Speedboat Ultraslim (SB1L)$100
How this compares
$5,234 in reported general payments places this provider in the 85th percentile of 524 nephrology providers in Illinois.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 35 | $45,988 |
| VeltassaPatiromer Calcium Sorbitex | 30 | $37,348 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 18 | $16,962 |
| Sevelamer Carbonate | 18 | $8,046 |
| Cinacalcet Hcl | 14 | $7,170 |
| Hydralazine Hcl | 67 | $1,434 |
| Bumetanide | 52 | $1,370 |
| Nifedipine ErNifedipine | 36 | $1,166 |
| Valsartan | 33 | $1,028 |
| Torsemide | 62 | $1,022 |
| Losartan Potassium | 100 | $933 |
| Midodrine Hcl | 12 | $927 |
| Carvedilol | 64 | $888 |
| Labetalol Hcl | 12 | $848 |
| Furosemide | 105 | $785 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| AstraZenecaFarxiga | $640 | $45,98835 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance | $120 | $16,96218 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 85th percentile of 524 nephrology providers in Illinois.
Other nephrology in Mount Prospect
- Manish TannaMount Prospect$8K
- Myles WolfChicago$2.1M
- Mohammed AhmedBolingbrook$1.1M
- Anis RaufHinsdale$453K
- Juan LermaEvergreen Park$351K
- Stuart SpragueEvanston$337K
- Suneel UdaniHinsdale$336K
- Susan QuagginChicago$262K
- Nicole StankusChicago$235K
- Omaima DeganiGurnee$184K
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.