Caroline Heramb
Surgical · Atlanta, GANPI 1073936928
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — consulting fees (38.0%), travel and lodging and food and beverage — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 12 manufacturers reported payments, led by Smith+Nephew at 43.0% of the total. 2025 is the largest year on record at $2,157, 5.8 times the $369 reported in 2022. Among surgical clinicians in GA with any reported payments, this total sits in the top 10% — high for the specialty, which is a reason to read the composition above rather than the number alone.
Across 42 payments — averaging $116.09 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Smith+Nephew$2K
- Pacira Pharmaceuticals Incorporated$858
- Arthrex$486
- Medical Device Business Services, Inc.$433
- United Orthopedics LLC$351
- Endo USA, Inc.$133
- plus $518 from 6 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$1,85338%
- Travel & lodging$1,33727%
- Food & beverage$1,27626%
- Education$4118%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Smith+Nephew | 5 | $2,097 |
| Pacira Pharmaceuticals Incorporated | 6 | $858 |
| Arthrex | 13 | $486 |
| Medical Device Business Services, Inc. | 7 | $433 |
| United Orthopedics LLC | 1 | $351 |
| Endo USA, Inc. | 2 | $133 |
| Si-bone, Inc. | 1 | $125 |
| Amgen | 1 | $124 |
| Johnson & Johnson(2 entities) | 3 | $105 |
| Heron Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $95 |
| Axogen | 1 | $46 |
| Boston Scientific | 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
$4,876 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 372 surgical providers in Georgia.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Cephalexin | 60 | $678 |
| Ibuprofen | 93 | $494 |
| Methylprednisolone | 30 | $205 |
| Promethazine Hcl | 48 | $152 |
| Meloxicam | 32 | $76 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other surgical in Atlanta
- Michael BerkeAtlanta$242K
- Emily WatsonAtlanta$150K
- William JohnsonAtlanta$8K
- Shelby ShimbergAtlanta$8K
- Julie ShoffstallAtlanta$7K
- Brian MullinAtlanta$5K
- David EllingsonAtlanta$5K
- Marquitha MayfieldAtlanta$4K
- Ashley MajoskeyAtlanta$4K
- Shenika GarnerAtlanta$4K
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.