Christopher Kauffman, MD
Orthopaedic Surgery of the Spine · Nashville, TNNPI 1578523809
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — food and beverage (45.7%), travel and lodging and consulting fees — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 33 manufacturers reported payments, led by Camber Spine Technologies LLC at 50.0% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2022 at $4,649 and has fallen 86.7% since, to $616 in 2025.
Across 84 payments — averaging $144.39 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Camber Spine Technologies LLC$6K
- The Institute Of Musculoskeletal Science And Education$2K
- Zimmer Biomet$573
- Intrinsic Therapeutics$445
- Alphatec Spine, Inc$348
- Medtronic$288
- plus $2K from 27 others
Across 1 payment — averaging $5000.00 each. Payments tied to a research study. These frequently flow through the physician to a hospital or research institution rather than to the physician personally.
- Medtronic$5K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$3,05425%
- Travel & lodging$3,53029%
- Food & beverage$5,54546%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Camber Spine Technologies LLC | 19 | $6,064 |
| The Institute Of Musculoskeletal Science And Education | 6 | $2,162 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 4 | $573 |
| Intrinsic Therapeutics | 5 | $445 |
| Alphatec Spine, Inc | 1 | $348 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 5 | $288 |
| Theragen, Inc. | 1 | $243 |
| Relievant Medsystems, Inc. | 4 | $237 |
| Corelink, LLC | 1 | $234 |
| Implanet America, Inc. | 2 | $233 |
| Biedermann Motech, Inc. | 1 | $170 |
| Nexxt Spine LLC | 1 | $148 |
| Abbott | 5 | $146 |
| Smith+Nephew | 3 | $138 |
| Osteocentric Technologies, Inc. | 1 | $95 |
| Spinal Surgical Strategies, Inc. | 1 | $90 |
| Choice Spine, LLC | 1 | $72 |
| Spinal Simplicity, LLC | 1 | $72 |
| Amgen | 4 | $66 |
| Arteriocyte Medical Systems, Inc. | 2 | $47 |
| Johnson & Johnson(2 entities) | 2 | $32 |
| Providence Medical Technology, Inc. | 2 | $25 |
| Trevena, Inc. | 1 | $24 |
| Orthofix Medical, Inc. | 2 | $23 |
| Nevro Corp. | 1 | $22 |
| Pacira Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $21 |
| DJO, LLC | 1 | $20 |
| Acelrx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $19 |
| Kowa Pharmaceuticals America, Inc. | 1 | $16 |
| Orthogenrx Inc. | 1 | $15 |
| Curonix LLC | 1 | $14 |
| Motive Health, Inc. | 1 | $13 |
| Radius Health, Inc. | 1 | $11 |
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.
- Biomet SpinalPak / OrthoPak$535
- Other - Miscellaneous$348
- ActaStim-S$243
- Barricaid Annular Closure Device$211
- Intracept$202
- MOSS100 Pedicle Screw System$170
- MOSS VRS Spinal System$170
- Telix K Interbody System$170
- CD HORIZON$157
- SA ALIF & Pedicle Screws$148
How this compares
$12,129 in reported general payments places this provider in the 55th percentile of 51 orthopaedic surgery of the spine providers in Tennessee.
See all orthopaedic surgery of the spine 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.
Most prescribed under Part D
| Drug | Claims | Cost to plans & patients |
|---|---|---|
| Gabapentin | 96 | $1,052 |
| Diclofenac Sodium | 47 | $1,047 |
| Meloxicam | 138 | $343 |
| Baclofen | 16 | $342 |
| Ibuprofen | 25 | $333 |
| Oxycodone-AcetaminophenOxycodone Hcl/Acetaminophen | 42 | $332 |
| Pregabalin | 27 | $321 |
| Celecoxib | 11 | $211 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 26 | $182 |
| Ondansetron OdtOndansetron | 18 | $80 |
| Methylprednisolone | 16 | $79 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 15 | $58 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other orthopaedic surgery of the spine in Nashville
- Lawrence BabatNashville$928K
- Raymond GardockiNashville$666K
- Colin CrosbyNashville$134K
- Morgan LorioNashville$56K
- Ryan SnowdenNashville$29K
- Byron StephensNashville$20K
- Daniel KiridlyNashville$14K
- Amir AbtahiNashville$8K
- Melvin LawNashville$6K
- Elliott KimNashville$5K
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.