Chad Ferguson, MD
Orthopaedic Surgery · Knoxville, TNNPI 1982922605
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $1,294 of the $2,111 with a category attached, or 61.3%. 9 manufacturers reported payments, led by Zimmer Biomet at 55.3% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2022 at $1,310 and has fallen 97.9% since, to $28 in 2025. That places this record below the midpoint for orthopaedic surgery clinicians in TN, where the typical reported total is $4,017.
Across 25 payments — averaging $84.43 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Zimmer Biomet$1K
- Restor3d, Inc.$228
- Paragon 28, Inc.$223
- Stryker$157
- Medline Industries LP$109
- Anika Therapeutics, Inc.$97
- plus $128 from 3 others
Across 6 payments — averaging $1429.83 each. An ownership or investment interest held by the physician or an immediate family member.
- Curvebeam LLC$9K
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$72434%
- Food & beverage$1,29461%
- Education$934%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Zimmer Biomet | 12 | $1,168 |
| Restor3d, Inc. | 2 | $228 |
| Paragon 28, Inc. | 4 | $223 |
| Stryker(2 entities) | 2 | $157 |
| Medline Industries LP | 1 | $109 |
| Anika Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $97 |
| Summit Surgical Corp. | 1 | $82 |
| Lifenet Health | 1 | $28 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 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.
- ROSA$662
- INFINITY ADAPTIS$110
How this compares
$2,111 in reported general payments places this provider in the 35th percentile of 381 orthopaedic surgery providers in Tennessee.
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 orthopaedic surgery in Knoxville
- Paul BradyKnoxville$20M
- Edwin SpencerKnoxville$2.5M
- Paul NaylorKnoxville$184K
- George HollowayKnoxville$124K
- Harold CatesKnoxville$106K
- Adam ShortKnoxville$87K
- Brian EdkinKnoxville$60K
- Austin DavidsonKnoxville$56K
- Benjamin WeisenthalKnoxville$52K
- Jesse DotyChattanooga$2.3M
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.