Christine Hammer, MD
Neurological Surgery · Tacoma, WANPI 1821389255
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — travel and lodging (59.1%), food and beverage and education — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 15 manufacturers reported payments, led by Globus Medical at 27.7% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2020 at $2,813 and has fallen 92.0% since, to $225 in 2025.
Across 48 payments — averaging $114.49 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Globus Medical$2K
- Medtronic$1K
- Orthofix Medical, Inc.$875
- Stryker$588
- MML US, Inc.$225
- Zimmer Biomet$220
- plus $745 from 9 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$3,24659%
- Food & beverage$2,06138%
- Education$1893%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Globus Medical(2 entities) | 2 | $1,522 |
| Medtronic | 18 | $1,322 |
| Orthofix Medical, Inc. | 8 | $875 |
| Stryker | 6 | $588 |
| MML US, Inc. | 1 | $225 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 2 | $220 |
| AbbVie | 1 | $150 |
| Centinel Spine, LLC | 1 | $125 |
| Surgalign Spine Technologies, Inc. | 2 | $113 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 1 | $98 |
| Providence Medical Technology, Inc. | 1 | $64 |
| Brainlab, Inc. | 1 | $57 |
| Spineart USA Inc | 1 | $56 |
| Nevro Corp. | 2 | $41 |
| Zimvie Inc. | 1 | $41 |
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.
- Excelsius Robotics System$1,384
- MazorX - Renaissance$606
- 7D Surgical System$528
- ES2 SPINAL SYSTEM$338
- O-ARM-ST$308
- ReActiv8$225
- EBI OsteoGen Implantable Bone Growth Stimulator$189
- BOTOX$150
- ES2$139
- PRODISC C$125
- coflex$101
How this compares
$5,496 in reported general payments places this provider in the 65th percentile of 175 neurological surgery providers in Washington.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Methocarbamol | 167 | $1,649 |
| Gabapentin | 234 | $1,552 |
| Oxycodone Hcl | 179 | $1,048 |
| Cyclobenzaprine Hcl | 53 | $403 |
| Hydromorphone Hcl | 69 | $396 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 34 | $377 |
| Methylprednisolone | 46 | $357 |
| Tizanidine Hcl | 37 | $168 |
| Ibuprofen | 16 | $156 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 29 | $140 |
| Meloxicam | 35 | $137 |
| Pregabalin | 14 | $126 |
| Diazepam | 32 | $69 |
| Cephalexin | 13 | $34 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other neurological surgery in Tacoma
- Elliot MinTacoma$53K
- Rod OskouianSeattle$2.4M
- Christoph HofstetterSeattle$768K
- David YamBrush Prairie$471K
- Stephen MonteithSeattle$151K
- Allan HellerSpokane$132K
- Jean-Christophe LevequeSeattle$120K
- Vijay YanamadalaSeattle$85K
- Hoan Vu TranSeattle$78K
- Martin RutkowskiSeattle$62K
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.