Bart Chess, MD
Vascular Surgery · Pittsburgh, PANPI 1023037413
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — food and beverage (57.1%), travel and lodging and grants — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 13 manufacturers reported payments, led by W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. at 32.1% of the total. 2025 is the largest year on record at $5,216, 5.6 times the $929 reported in 2019.
Across 99 payments — averaging $112.13 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.$4K
- Medtronic$3K
- Terumo Medical Corporation$1K
- Silk Road Medical, Inc.$1K
- Boston Scientific$892
- Endologix LLC$627
- plus $927 from 7 others
Across 5 payments — averaging $25,236 each. An ownership or investment interest held by the physician or an immediate family member.
- Centerline Biomedical Inc.$126K
What the payments were for
- Grants$7006%
- Travel & lodging$4,06637%
- Food & beverage$6,33557%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. | 30 | $3,560 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 17 | $2,820 |
| Terumo Medical Corporation | 10 | $1,170 |
| Silk Road Medical, Inc. | 10 | $1,104 |
| Boston Scientific | 10 | $892 |
| Endologix LLC | 8 | $627 |
| Cook Medical LLC | 7 | $445 |
| Centerline Biomedical Inc. | 1 | $131 |
| Bolton Medical Inc | 1 | $112 |
| Shape Memory Medical Inc. | 1 | $106 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 2 | $78 |
| Abiomed | 1 | $37 |
| Smith+Nephew | 1 | $18 |
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.
- ENDURANT IIS$1,547
- ENROUTE Transcarotid Neuroprotection System$1,230
- GORE TAG Thoracic Branch Endoprosthesis$1,224
- NA$862
- GORE TAG Thoracic Endoprosthesis$844
- ENROUTE Transcarotid Stent$813
- Navicross$737
- GORE TAG Conformable Thoracic Endoprosthesis$657
- AZUR$594
- GlideWire$594
- ENHANCE Transcarotid Peripheral Access Kit$305
- Azur CX Detachable$289
- Zilver PTX$254
- ENROUTE .014 Guidewire$192
- Lunderquist$163
- ENROUTE Enflate Transcarotid RX Balloon Dilatation Catheter$157
- GENERAL VASCULAR ACCESS$151
- ENDOCROSS Device$146
- Torus Stent Graft System$146
- R2P MISAGO$142
How this compares
$11,101 in reported general payments places this provider in the 75th percentile of 236 vascular surgery providers in Pennsylvania.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 48 | $58,187 |
| EliquisApixaban | 33 | $44,380 |
| ClopidogrelClopidogrel Bisulfate | 163 | $1,403 |
| Enoxaparin Sodium | 15 | $1,062 |
| Cilostazol | 30 | $598 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 40 | $587 |
| Gabapentin | 29 | $324 |
| Warfarin Sodium | 16 | $174 |
| Prednisone | 18 | $22 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Johnson & JohnsonXarelto | $78 | $58,18748 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 75th percentile of 236 vascular surgery providers in Pennsylvania.
Other vascular surgery in Pittsburgh
- Michel MakarounPittsburgh$143K
- Efthymios AvgerinosPittsburgh$120K
- Nathan LiangPittsburgh$81K
- Scott ChapmanPittsburgh$21K
- Catherine GoPittsburgh$21K
- Othman Abdul-MalakPittsburgh$18K
- Samuel SimonePittsburgh$18K
- Amanda PhillipsPittsburgh$18K
- Desiree PiconePittsburgh$12K
- Michael SinghPittsburgh$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.