Christopher Merchant
Physician Assistant · Great Falls, MTNPI 1417999814
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Zimmer Biomet accounts for 60.0% of it on its own, with 7 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2022 at $1,218 and has fallen 81.9% since, to $221 in 2025. Among physician assistant clinicians in MT 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 17 payments — averaging $98.15 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Zimmer Biomet$1K
- Si-bone, Inc.$236
- Smith+Nephew$142
- Radius Health, Inc.$87
- Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc.$75
- Medical Device Business Services, Inc.$65
- plus $61 from 2 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$86852%
- Food & beverage$80048%
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 | 8 | $1,002 |
| Si-bone, Inc. | 2 | $236 |
| Smith+Nephew | 2 | $142 |
| Radius Health, Inc. | 1 | $87 |
| Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. | 1 | $75 |
| Medical Device Business Services, Inc. | 1 | $65 |
| Stryker | 1 | $49 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 1 | $12 |
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
$1,669 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 626 physician assistant providers in Montana.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Oxycodone Hcl | 217 | $1,551 |
| Celecoxib | 76 | $1,040 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 22 | $196 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 56 | $181 |
| Cephalexin | 12 | $153 |
| Meloxicam | 50 | $135 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other physician assistant in Great Falls
- Jason KjonoGreat Falls$32K
- Morgan UmphresGreat Falls$3K
- Katie BrownGreat Falls$2K
- Katrina PaulsonGreat Falls$2K
- Jason EnewoldGreat Falls$2K
- Trenay HartBillings$57K
- Maura KingKalispell$9K
- Joan Bond-DeschampsMissoula$9K
- Kasie CooperHelena$9K
- Janel Allison-ShamblinBozeman$7K
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.