Benjamin Bryner, MD
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Chicago, ILNPI 1992933006
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $4,042 of the $5,778 with a category attached, or 70.0%. 15 manufacturers reported payments, led by Transmedics, Inc. at 30.0% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2023 at $3,441 and has fallen 82.3% since, to $610 in 2025.
Across 73 payments — averaging $79.15 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Transmedics, Inc.$2K
- Abbott$1K
- Xvivo Perfusion Inc.$628
- Abiomed$618
- Medtronic$379
- Atricure, Inc.$374
- plus $836 from 9 others
Across 8 payments — averaging $12,263 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.
- Xvivo Perfusion Inc.$98K
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$1,73530%
- Food & beverage$4,04270%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Transmedics, Inc. | 2 | $1,735 |
| Abbott | 25 | $1,208 |
| Xvivo Perfusion Inc. | 2 | $628 |
| Abiomed | 5 | $618 |
| Medtronic | 10 | $379 |
| Atricure, Inc. | 15 | $374 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 4 | $179 |
| Bolton Medical Inc | 1 | $167 |
| Corcym Inc | 1 | $161 |
| Paragonix Technologies, Inc. | 3 | $160 |
| Livanova USA, Inc. | 1 | $48 |
| Intuitive Surgical | 1 | $40 |
| Briohealth Solutions, Inc. | 1 | $31 |
| Stryker | 1 | $27 |
| Philips North America LLC | 1 | $23 |
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.
How this compares
$5,778 in reported general payments places this provider in the 60th percentile of 220 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Illinois.
See all thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) 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.
Other thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) in Chicago
- Jessica DoningtonChicago$314K
- S Christopher MalaisrieChicago$254K
- Patrick McCarthyChicago$241K
- Samuel KimChicago$221K
- Douglas JohnstonChicago$205K
- Gianluca TorregrossaChicago$197K
- Valluvan JeevanandamChicago$193K
- Husam BalkhyChicago$129K
- Christopher SalernoChicago$124K
- Duc PhamChicago$114K
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.