Christopher Salerno
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Chicago, ILNPI 1245259837
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — consulting fees (58.1%), speaking fees and food and beverage — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. Abbott accounts for 70.1% of it on its own, with 18 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $30,432 and has fallen 79.4% since, to $6,264 in 2025. Among thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) clinicians in IL 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 321 payments — averaging $386.60 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Abbott$87K
- Medtronic$27K
- Edwards Lifesciences$6K
- Abiomed$2K
- Transmedics, Inc.$723
- Atricure, Inc.$651
- plus $1K from 13 others
Across 22 payments — averaging $4060.94 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.
- Briohealth Solutions, Inc.$56K
- Transmedics, Inc.$27K
- Medtronic$7K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$72,10458%
- Speaking & faculty fees$23,15019%
- Travel & lodging$13,52811%
- Food & beverage$15,27712%
- Education$380%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Abbott | 193 | $86,987 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 59 | $27,196 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 27 | $5,908 |
| Abiomed | 15 | $1,514 |
| Transmedics, Inc. | 1 | $723 |
| Atricure, Inc. | 5 | $651 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 3 | $211 |
| Livanova USA, Inc. | 2 | $181 |
| La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company | 4 | $143 |
| Paragonix Technologies, Inc. | 2 | $138 |
| Cvrx, Inc. | 1 | $123 |
| Bioventrix, Inc. | 1 | $83 |
| Boston Scientific | 1 | $63 |
| Covidien LP | 1 | $49 |
| Lemaitre Vascular, Inc. | 2 | $41 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 1 | $34 |
| Getinge USA Sales, LLC | 1 | $31 |
| Davol Inc. | 1 | $15 |
| Elutia, Inc. | 1 | $7 |
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.
- THORATEC HEARTMATE 3 LVAS IMPLANT KIT$40,644
- HeartMate 3 Left Ventricular Dev$34,451
- HeartWare HVAD$20,596
- HeartMate 3 Left Ventricular Assist Device$2,953
- AMPLATZER$2,400
- Mosaic$1,782
- 2ND GEN CENTRIMAG PRIMARY CONSOLE$1,683
- INSPIRIS RESILIA aortic valve$1,521
- HeartMate Touch$1,485
- Impella$1,042
- ORGAN CARE SYSTEM$723
- EDWARDS INTUITY Elite valve system$401
- EPI-SENSE GUIDED COAGULATION SYSTEM WITH VISITRAX$367
- Epic$310
- CARDIOMEMS$225
- Mitra Clip system$149
- Simulus$144
- ATRICURE CRYOICE CRYOABLATION SYSTEM (CRYO2)$138
- THORATEC HEARTMATE II, LVAS IMPLANT KIT$134
- Protek Duo$125
How this compares
$124,097 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 220 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Illinois.
See all thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Illinois →
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 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) in Chicago
- Jessica DoningtonChicago$314K
- S Christopher MalaisrieChicago$254K
- Patrick McCarthyChicago$241K
- Samuel KimChicago$221K
- Douglas JohnstonChicago$205K
- Gianluca TorregrossaChicago$197K
- Valluvan JeevanandamChicago$193K
- Husam BalkhyChicago$129K
- Duc PhamChicago$114K
- Gillian AlexChicago$97K
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.