Austin Ward, MD
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Lexington, KYNPI 1780943274
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — food and beverage (46.4%), travel and lodging and education — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 23 manufacturers reported payments, led by Edwards Lifesciences at 34.0% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $6,108 and has fallen 56.8% since, to $2,638 in 2025.
Across 204 payments — averaging $86.63 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Edwards Lifesciences$6K
- Intuitive Surgical$3K
- W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.$2K
- Abbott$2K
- Atricure, Inc.$2K
- Medtronic$2K
- plus $2K from 17 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$7,92345%
- Food & beverage$8,19846%
- Education$1,5539%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Edwards Lifesciences | 66 | $6,013 |
| Intuitive Surgical | 13 | $2,759 |
| W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. | 13 | $2,041 |
| Abbott | 18 | $1,698 |
| Atricure, Inc. | 20 | $1,669 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 19 | $1,524 |
| Abiomed | 8 | $726 |
| Johnson & Johnson(3 entities) | 8 | $317 |
| Irhythm Technologies, Inc. | 2 | $200 |
| Amgen | 10 | $172 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 1 | $108 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 5 | $85 |
| Merck | 5 | $73 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 3 | $53 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 2 | $43 |
| Novartis | 2 | $37 |
| Boston Scientific | 2 | $33 |
| Philips North America LLC | 2 | $31 |
| Lantheus Medical Imaging, Inc. | 1 | $20 |
| Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals International, PLC | 1 | $20 |
| Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $18 |
| Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| BD | 1 | $16 |
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.
- Da Vinci Surgical System$2,435
- TAG Thoracic Endoprosthesis$1,566
- MITRIS RESILIA Mitral Valve$1,363
- MitraClip$1,010
- PASCAL$999
- CoreValve Evolut$844
- Carpentier-Edwards Physio II Annuloplasty Ring$780
- Impella$501
- ATRICURE SYNERGY ABLATION SYSTEM$481
- SYNERGY ABLATION SYSTEM$327
- CentriMag$295
- ATRICLIP LAA EXCLUSION SYSTEM$278
- Edwards SAPIEN 3 Ultra Transcatheter Heart Valve$236
- Conformable TAG Thoracic Endoprosthesis$184
- INSPIRIS RESILIA aortic valve$184
- EPI-SENSE GUIDED COAGULATION SYSTEM WITH VISITRAX$170
- Mitra Clip system$130
- Valiant Captivia$114
- ZIO XT Patch$109
- SternaLock Blu$108
How this compares
$17,674 in reported general payments places this provider in the 80th percentile of 98 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Kentucky.
See all thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Kentucky →
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Metoprolol Succinate | 16 | $173 |
| ClopidogrelClopidogrel Bisulfate | 24 | $120 |
| Metoprolol Tartrate | 35 | $95 |
| Losartan Potassium | 16 | $88 |
| Oxycodone-AcetaminophenOxycodone Hcl/Acetaminophen | 12 | $78 |
| Pantoprazole Sodium | 14 | $64 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 15 | $60 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 12 | $59 |
| Furosemide | 17 | $8 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) in Lexington
- Edward CantuLexington$74K
- Mansi Shah-JadejaLexington$45K
- Alberto de HoyosLexington$32K
- Theodore WrightLexington$22K
- Hamid MohammadzadehLexington$19K
- Tessa London-BoundsLexington$18K
- John ChaneyLexington$15K
- Robert MitchellLexington$13K
- Suresh KeshavamurthyLexington$13K
- Shari MeyersonLexington$12K
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.