OBJECTIVES: Esomeprazole (Nexium®), a proton pump inhibitor(PPI), was the top brand name drug prescribed to 1.48 million Medicare Part-D beneficiaries in 2013 with total drug cost of $2.53 billion. Omeprazole, a generic PPI, was prescribed to 6.38 million Part-D beneficiaries with total cost of $643 million. This difference in costs raises the question of variations in health care. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between the prescriber characteristics and PPI prescriptions to Medicare Part-D beneficiaries. Esomeprazole, Dexlansoprazole (Dexilant®) and Omeprazole were the selected PPIs.  METHODS: Medicare Part-D Prescriber Data (2013) and Open Payments Data (2013) were used for this study. Multivariable logistic regression was employed to evaluate associations between prescriptions for the selected PPIs and prescriber characteristics – i.e. payments received from pharmaceutical industry, gender, region, physician specialty, and total prescribing volume. RESULTS: The likelihood of prescriptions for esomeprazole was significantly higher if the physician received any pharmaceutical industry payments (adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=1.35(1.33-1.39)), was male (AOR=1.21(1.18-1.23)), practiced in the South as compared to the Northeast (AOR=1.47(1.43-1.51)), and had high prescribing volume (AOR=11.06 (10.76-11.37)). The likelihood of prescriptions for dexlansoprazole was also significantly higher if the physician received any pharmaceutical industry payments (AOR=1.26(1.23-1.30), was male (AOR=1.41(1.37-1.45)), practiced in the South (AOR=1.399(1.36-1.45)), was a specialist (AOR=1.12(1.09-1.15)) and had high prescribing volume (AOR=3.25(3.15-3.36)). The likelihood of prescriptions for generic omeprazole was significantly lower if the physician received pharmaceutical industry payments (AOR=0.91(0.86-0.96), was male (AOR=0.91(0.86-0.96)) or practiced in the South (AOR=0.66(0.62-0.70)).  CONCLUSIONS: There are significant differences in the prescriber characteristics prescribing different PPIs to Medicare Part-D beneficiaries. The presence of a physician-industry financial relationship is a noteworthy element that was associated with an increased likelihood for prescriptions of brand name PPIs. Male gender, practicing in south region and having a high prescribing volume were other prescriber characteristics significantly associated with prescriptions for PPIs.