Akul Patel, MD
Orthopaedic Surgery · Wilmington, DENPI 1376070664
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — travel and lodging (52.8%), food and beverage and education — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 16 manufacturers reported payments, led by Stryker at 40.6% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2023 at $7,199 and has fallen 50.5% since, to $3,566 in 2025.
Across 149 payments — averaging $143.98 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Stryker$9K
- Liberty Surgical Inc.$4K
- Medtronic$3K
- Globus Medical$3K
- Alphatec Spine, Inc$2K
- Abbott$719
- plus $370 from 10 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$11,31953%
- Food & beverage$6,38330%
- Education$3,75117%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Stryker | 62 | $8,721 |
| Liberty Surgical Inc. | 3 | $3,504 |
| Medtronic | 29 | $3,496 |
| Globus Medical(2 entities) | 23 | $2,780 |
| Alphatec Spine, Inc | 10 | $1,864 |
| Abbott | 11 | $719 |
| Providence Medical Technology, Inc. | 1 | $84 |
| VB Spine LLC | 2 | $57 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 1 | $54 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 1 | $42 |
| Pacira Pharmaceuticals Incorporated | 1 | $28 |
| Eclipse Technology Solutions Inc. | 1 | $27 |
| Painteq LLC | 1 | $27 |
| Nevro Corp. | 1 | $22 |
| Si-bone, Inc. | 1 | $14 |
| Spinal Elements, Inc. | 1 | $14 |
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.
- EVEREST SPINAL SYSTEM$3,653
- MAZOR X SYSTEM$2,354
- XLIF$1,205
- CASCADIA INTERBODY SYSTEM$1,130
- N/A$903
- SPINEMAP$710
- Other - Miscellaneous$694
- ExcelsiusGPS Robotic Navigation System$657
- STRYKER NAV3I$531
- XIA 3$531
- CAPRI CORPECTOMY CAGE SYSTEM$442
- TRITANIUM$284
- MONTEREY AL$279
- ES2 SPINAL SYSTEM$247
- PROCLAIM$214
- Trestle Luxe II$214
- LATERAL ACCESS SPINAL SYSTEM$158
- SERRATO$158
- Excelsius - GPS$132
- ETERNA$113
How this compares
$21,453 in reported general payments places this provider in the 75th percentile of 70 orthopaedic surgery providers in Delaware.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Gabapentin | 51 | $222 |
| Oxycodone Hcl | 36 | $177 |
| Cyclobenzaprine Hcl | 28 | $157 |
| Meloxicam | 12 | $46 |
| Tizanidine Hcl | 11 | $43 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other orthopaedic surgery in Wilmington
- Suken ShahWilmington$2.1M
- Patrick WardWilmington$68K
- Steven DelloseWilmington$52K
- James RubanoWilmington$39K
- Nicholas QuercettiWilmington$32K
- Michael PrincipeWilmington$29K
- David TainterWilmington$26K
- Alfonso ArevaloWilmington$18K
- Michael ShraderWilmington$14K
- Brian GalinatWilmington$13K
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.