Donald Glower, MD
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Lumberton, NCNPI 1528148657
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by speaking fees: $5,625 of the $6,598 with a category attached, or 85.2%. Abbott accounts for 88.0% of it on its own, with 7 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2023 at $3,307 and has fallen 96.8% since, to $107 in 2025. That places this record below the midpoint for thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) clinicians in NC, where the typical reported total is $5,565.
Across 15 payments — averaging $439.90 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Abbott$6K
- Artivion, Inc.$195
- Intuitive Surgical$169
- Livanova USA, Inc.$163
- Edwards Lifesciences$107
- Atricure, Inc.$82
- plus $75 from 2 others
Across 52 payments — averaging $5358.63 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.
- Medtronic$174K
- Edwards Lifesciences$79K
- Abbott$26K
What the payments were for
- Speaking & faculty fees$5,62585%
- Food & beverage$91814%
- Education$561%
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 | 4 | $5,807 |
| Artivion, Inc. | 3 | $195 |
| Intuitive Surgical | 1 | $169 |
| Livanova USA, Inc. | 2 | $163 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 1 | $107 |
| Atricure, Inc. | 1 | $82 |
| Terumo BCT, Inc. | 2 | $67 |
| Medistim USA, Inc. | 1 | $8 |
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.
- Epic$3,294
- AMPLATZER AMULET$2,500
- On-X$176
- Da Vinci Surgical System$169
- Perceval$148
- EVOQUE$107
How this compares
$6,598 in reported general payments places this provider in the 50th percentile of 132 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in North Carolina.
See all thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in North Carolina →
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 Lumberton
- Carmelo MilanoLumberton$169K
- Andrew LodgeLumberton$83K
- George HughesLumberton$19K
- Joseph RubelowskyRaleigh$2.2M
- Matthew HartwigDurham$406K
- Gregory SmaroffNew Bern$205K
- David HarpoleDurham$177K
- Walter ChitwoodGreenville$139K
- Michael MillChapel Hill$137K
- Eric SkipperCharlotte$132K
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.