Benjamin Ward, MD
Orthopaedic Surgery · Kalispell, MTNPI 1285839894
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — travel and lodging (36.3%), food and beverage and education — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 8 manufacturers reported payments, led by Arthrex at 50.1% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $3,896 and has fallen 90.9% since, to $354 in 2025.
Across 63 payments — averaging $130.57 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Arthrex$4K
- Steelhead Surgical Inc$2K
- Sioux Surgical Inc$894
- Stryker$723
- Advanced Orthopaedic Solutions, Inc.$148
- Vericel Corporation$63
- plus $33 from 2 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$2,98536%
- Food & beverage$2,64432%
- Education$2,59632%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Arthrex | 33 | $4,123 |
| Steelhead Surgical Inc | 10 | $2,243 |
| Sioux Surgical Inc | 5 | $894 |
| Stryker | 9 | $723 |
| Advanced Orthopaedic Solutions, Inc. | 2 | $148 |
| Vericel Corporation | 2 | $63 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 1 | $16 |
| Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 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.
How this compares
$8,226 in reported general payments places this provider in the 80th percentile of 76 orthopaedic surgery providers in Montana.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Meloxicam | 135 | $369 |
| Oxycodone Hcl | 64 | $289 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 22 | $123 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other orthopaedic surgery in Kalispell
- Karen PerserKalispell$7K
- Kim StimpsonKalispell$6K
- Scott RogersKalispell$6K
- Timothy JoyceKalispell$4K
- Stanley MakmanKalispell$3K
- Joseph BergmanKalispell$2K
- Matthew BaileyKalispell$1K
- Mark MagillKalispell$980
- Brian DrakeBillings$84K
- Daniel WhitingMissoula$39K
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.