Christopher Nelson, MD
Surgical Critical Care · Columbia, MONPI 1477653095
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 93.8% of the total across 7 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. 7 manufacturers reported payments, led by Zimmer Biomet at 43.6% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2023 at $198 and has fallen 65.3% since, to $69 in 2024. That places this record below the midpoint for surgical critical care clinicians in MO, where the typical reported total is $1,053.
Across 7 payments — averaging $43.66 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Zimmer Biomet$133
- Boston Scientific$49
- Intuitive Surgical$48
- Teleflex LLC$20
- Medtronic$19
- Z-medica, LLC$19
- plus $17 from 1 others
Across 5 payments — averaging $4913.45 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.
- Merck$25K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$196%
- Food & beverage$28794%
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 | 1 | $133 |
| Boston Scientific | 1 | $49 |
| Intuitive Surgical | 1 | $48 |
| Teleflex LLC | 1 | $20 |
| Medtronic | 1 | $19 |
| Z-medica, LLC | 1 | $19 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 1 | $17 |
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.
- AdvantageRib$133
How this compares
$306 in reported general payments places this provider in the 20th percentile of 35 surgical critical care providers in Missouri.
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 surgical critical care in Columbia
- Mary CarrColumbia$11K
- Rushabh DevColumbia$9K
- Salman AhmadColumbia$2K
- Jeffrey CoughenourColumbia$940
- Stephen BarnesColumbia$572
- Grant BochicchioSaint Louis$38K
- Jacob QuickOsage Beach$12K
- Charlie SrivilasaSaint Louis$11K
- Zachary EnglertSaint Louis$9K
- Sumaiya SarwarKansas City$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.