Chad Stephens, DO
Interventional Pain Medicine · Southlake, TXNPI 1659372290
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — consulting fees (45.6%), speaking fees and travel and lodging — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 20 manufacturers reported payments, led by Spinal Simplicity, LLC at 40.9% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2021 at $183,062 and has fallen 53.2% since, to $85,687 in 2025. Among interventional pain medicine clinicians in TX with any reported payments, this total sits in the top 5% — high for the specialty, which is a reason to read the composition above rather than the number alone.
Across 1,043 payments — averaging $996.66 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Spinal Simplicity, LLC$425K
- Avanos Medical$424K
- Stimwave Technologies Incorporated$65K
- Boston Scientific$41K
- Vertiflex, Inc.$38K
- Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc.$25K
- plus $22K from 14 others
Across 4 payments — averaging $14,968 each. An ownership or investment interest held by the physician or an immediate family member.
- Spinal Simplicity, LLC$60K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$473,86646%
- Speaking & faculty fees$216,12621%
- Travel & lodging$183,87018%
- Food & beverage$27,1093%
- Education$136,71113%
- Gifts$2490%
- Entertainment$1,5850%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Spinal Simplicity, LLC | 434 | $425,446 |
| Avanos Medical | 227 | $424,009 |
| Stimwave Technologies Incorporated | 94 | $64,867 |
| Boston Scientific | 70 | $40,802 |
| Vertiflex, Inc. | 43 | $37,703 |
| Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 26 | $25,133 |
| Foundation Fusion Solutions, LLC | 4 | $9,038 |
| Genesys Orthopedics Systems, L.L.C. | 7 | $5,595 |
| MML US, Inc. | 26 | $2,265 |
| Abbott | 36 | $1,403 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 39 | $1,142 |
| SPR Therapeutics, Inc | 4 | $876 |
| Relievant Medsystems, Inc. | 13 | $351 |
| Hydrocision, Inc. | 6 | $284 |
| Curonix LLC | 4 | $206 |
| Vertos Medical, Inc. | 2 | $194 |
| Nevro Corp. | 3 | $97 |
| Nalu Medical, Inc. | 2 | $44 |
| Intrinsic Therapeutics | 2 | $42 |
| Orthofix Medical, Inc. | 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.
- HA MINUTEMAN G3-R$393,144
- GENERATOR$186,171
- COOLIEF* COOLED RADIOFREQUENCY$149,156
- COOLIEF$63,530
- Superion ISS$36,946
- SCS FreedonSpinal Cord Stimulator$30,301
- StimQ Peripheral Nerve StimulatorSystem$28,000
- COOLED RFA$22,926
- Minuteman$21,889
- LIBERTY SI$21,503
- SUPERION$20,211
- StimQ Receiver Stimulator Kit Channel A US w Receiver$19,577
- StimQ Freedom 8A Receiver Kit Channel A US w Receiver$19,577
- Freedom 4A Receiver Kit Channel A US w Receiver$19,577
- Freedom 8A Receiver Kit Channel A US w Receiver$19,577
- StimQ Freedom-4A Receiver Kit Channel A US w/ Receiver$18,375
- VERIFLEX$16,970
- PATRIOT SI$7,689
- SACROILIAC JOINT FUSION SYSTEM$5,496
- CFNS StimQ Peripheral Nerve StimulatorSystem$2,301
How this compares
$1,039,517 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 287 interventional pain medicine providers in Texas.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| OxycontinOxycodone Hcl | 13 | $13,360 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 375 | $13,081 |
| Fentanyl | 16 | $3,674 |
| Oxycodone-AcetaminophenOxycodone Hcl/Acetaminophen | 72 | $3,524 |
| Oxycodone Hcl | 25 | $1,271 |
| Cyclobenzaprine Hcl | 103 | $680 |
| Gabapentin | 49 | $658 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 46 | $576 |
| Tizanidine Hcl | 22 | $308 |
| Celecoxib | 21 | $186 |
| Pregabalin | 20 | $145 |
| Acetaminophen-CodeineAcetaminophen With Codeine | 12 | $137 |
| Methocarbamol | 11 | $96 |
| Methadone Hcl | 11 | $94 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other interventional pain medicine in Southlake
- Gabor RaczLubbock$3M
- Pankaj MehtaKilleen$2.1M
- Ankur KhoslaShenandoah$277K
- Brian RichDecatur$245K
- Brian BruelHouston$219K
- Bolkar SahinlerLubbock$188K
- Timothy RatinoFort Worth$139K
- Genaro GutierrezAustin$125K
- Thomas WhiteShenandoah$118K
- Alan SilberbergKyle$112K
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.