Daniel Wells, MD
Orthopaedic Surgery of the Spine · Knoxville, TNNPI 1093159436
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — consulting fees (42.4%), travel and lodging and speaking fees — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. Spineology Inc. accounts for 83.1% of it on its own, with 37 other manufacturers making up the rest. 2025 is the largest year on record at $47,993, 5.2 times the $9,277 reported in 2019.
Across 256 payments — averaging $527.31 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Spineology Inc.$112K
- Medical Device Business Services, Inc.$4K
- Globus Medical$4K
- Medtronic$3K
- Corelink, LLC$2K
- Johnson & Johnson$2K
- plus $7K from 32 others
Across 3 payments — averaging $25.33 each. An ownership or investment interest held by the physician or an immediate family member.
- Spineology Inc.$76
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$57,25042%
- Speaking & faculty fees$31,30223%
- Travel & lodging$32,09824%
- Food & beverage$14,30611%
- Entertainment$350%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Spineology Inc. | 61 | $112,241 |
| Medical Device Business Services, Inc. | 25 | $4,342 |
| Globus Medical | 15 | $3,788 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 29 | $3,226 |
| Corelink, LLC | 5 | $2,287 |
| Johnson & Johnson(2 entities) | 34 | $1,655 |
| Alpha Orthopedic Systems | 11 | $1,323 |
| Zimvie Inc. | 5 | $1,046 |
| Choice Spine, LLC | 3 | $956 |
| Alphatec Spine, Inc | 6 | $780 |
| Highridge Medical LLC | 3 | $758 |
| Stryker | 6 | $321 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 1 | $262 |
| EBI, LLC | 1 | $240 |
| Nevro Corp. | 2 | $234 |
| Arthrex | 12 | $170 |
| Si-bone, Inc. | 4 | $165 |
| Smoky Mountain Surgical LLC | 4 | $160 |
| Next Science LLC | 1 | $134 |
| Providence Medical Technology, Inc. | 2 | $112 |
| Brainlab, Inc. | 1 | $100 |
| Osseus Fusion Systems, LLC | 1 | $100 |
| Xtant Medical Inc | 1 | $82 |
| Vertex | 4 | $79 |
| VB Spine LLC | 1 | $65 |
| Augmedics Inc. | 2 | $64 |
| Kowa Pharmaceuticals America, Inc. | 3 | $49 |
| Radius Health, Inc. | 2 | $45 |
| Amgen | 1 | $28 |
| Convatec Inc. | 1 | $26 |
| AbbVie | 1 | $25 |
| Cumberland Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 2 | $25 |
| Intrinsic Therapeutics | 1 | $25 |
| C. R. Bard, Inc. & Subsidiaries | 1 | $19 |
| Endo USA, Inc. | 1 | $18 |
| Pacira Pharmaceuticals Incorporated | 1 | $16 |
| Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $15 |
| Heron Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $14 |
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.
- OPTIMESH EXPANDABLE INTERBODY FUSION SYSTEM$81,645
- OptiMesh Interbody Fusion System$29,929
- VIPER$2,316
- ALTERA$2,032
- Biomet SpinalPak Non-invasive Spine Fusion Stimulator System$1,847
- MazorX - Renaissance$1,310
- COUGAR$1,299
- RISE-L$998
- Blackhawk$920
- Tiger Shark$920
- Blackbird$920
- Tomcat$920
- VEO$920
- O-ARM-ST$759
- EXPEDIUM$323
- INVICTUS OPEN$288
- RISE$274
- Biomet SpinalPak / OrthoPak$262
- IdentiTi$247
- Omnia$234
How this compares
$134,991 in reported general payments places this provider in the 85th 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Diclofenac Sodium | 97 | $1,363 |
| Cyclobenzaprine Hcl | 172 | $1,318 |
| Methocarbamol | 135 | $1,209 |
| Celecoxib | 39 | $1,030 |
| Methylprednisolone | 103 | $813 |
| Gabapentin | 77 | $664 |
| Tizanidine Hcl | 80 | $574 |
| Oxycodone-AcetaminophenOxycodone Hcl/Acetaminophen | 22 | $325 |
| Meloxicam | 108 | $270 |
| Ondansetron OdtOndansetron | 36 | $245 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 17 | $96 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 19 | $35 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other orthopaedic surgery of the spine in Knoxville
- Colin BoothKnoxville$56K
- Patrick BoltKnoxville$794
- Perry WhiteKnoxville$354
- Lawrence BabatNashville$928K
- Raymond GardockiNashville$666K
- Samuel SchroerluckeMemphis$451K
- James JolleyChattanooga$231K
- John BurlesonSmyrna$184K
- Michael McNamaraFranklin$150K
- John KlekampFranklin$148K
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.