David Chao, MD
Sports Medicine · San Diego, CANPI 1730290289
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 52 payments — averaging $53.25 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Sientra, Inc.$900
- Zimmer Biomet$770
- Trice Medical, Inc.$189
- Stryker$166
- Smith+Nephew$110
- Pacira Therapeutics, Inc.$92
- plus $543 from 17 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$90033%
- Travel & lodging$1505%
- Food & beverage$1,71962%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Sientra, Inc. | 1 | $900 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 10 | $770 |
| Trice Medical, Inc. | 2 | $189 |
| Stryker | 2 | $166 |
| Smith+Nephew | 4 | $110 |
| Pacira Therapeutics, Inc. | 4 | $92 |
| Integra Lifesciences Corporation | 5 | $82 |
| TELA Bio, Inc. | 3 | $56 |
| Acera Surgical, Inc. | 3 | $55 |
| Bioventus LLC | 3 | $51 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 2 | $41 |
| Axogen | 2 | $39 |
| Acell, Inc. | 1 | $36 |
| Pacira Pharmaceuticals Incorporated | 1 | $30 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 1 | $23 |
| Medtronic | 1 | $21 |
| Misonix Inc | 1 | $19 |
| Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $19 |
| Fidia Pharma USA Inc. | 1 | $18 |
| ERMI LLC | 1 | $17 |
| Next Science LLC | 1 | $17 |
| Medartis Inc. | 1 | $13 |
| Apyx Medical Corporation | 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.
- SIENTRA HIGH STRENGTH COHESIVE SILICONE GEL BREAST IMPLANT$900
- Sports Medicine-None$225
- Segway blade or mieye camera$150
- ICONIX$150
- Accelero-None$125
- Endoscopy Instrument Systems$118
- Arthroscopy Instrument Systems$117
- Bone Healing Product Portfolio$114
How this compares
$2,769 in reported general payments places this provider in the 50th percentile of 662 sports medicine providers in California.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 41 | $261 |
| Acetaminophen-CodeineAcetaminophen With Codeine | 22 | $130 |
| Nabumetone | 14 | $110 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 13 | $46 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other sports medicine in San Diego
- Okechukwu AnakwenzeSan Diego$623K
- Tal DavidSan Diego$523K
- Michelle LookSan Diego$225K
- Neal ElattracheLos Angeles$51M
- Nathaniel CohenLos Gatos$6.4M
- Thomas KnappSanta Monica$2.5M
- Seth ShermanStanford$1.8M
- Michael FreehillStanford$1.7M
- Deryk JonesSan Carlos$1.6M
- Allan MishraMenlo Park$1.5M
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.