Douglas Minnich, MD
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Birmingham, ALNPI 1730162041
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — consulting fees (50.9%), education and food and beverage — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 9 manufacturers reported payments, led by Intuitive Surgical at 37.4% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2023 at $3,597 and has fallen 84.8% since, to $546 in 2025.
Across 50 payments — averaging $199.70 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Intuitive Surgical$4K
- Johnson & Johnson$4K
- Medical Device Business Services, Inc.$2K
- Pinnacle Biologics, Inc$220
- AbbVie$114
- Atricure, Inc.$82
- plus $137 from 3 others
Across 2 payments — averaging $2093.75 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.
- Johnson & Johnson$4K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$5,08351%
- Travel & lodging$3964%
- Food & beverage$1,50615%
- Education$3,00030%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Intuitive Surgical | 11 | $3,738 |
| Johnson & Johnson(2 entities) | 25 | $3,675 |
| Medical Device Business Services, Inc. | 1 | $2,020 |
| Pinnacle Biologics, Inc | 2 | $220 |
| AbbVie | 1 | $114 |
| Atricure, Inc. | 4 | $82 |
| Novartis | 4 | $76 |
| Galvanize Therapeutics, Inc | 1 | $47 |
| Medtronic | 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.
How this compares
$9,985 in reported general payments places this provider in the 65th percentile of 68 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Alabama.
See all thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Alabama →
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Amoxicillin-Clavulanate PotassAmoxicillin/Potassium Clav | 47 | $774 |
| Levofloxacin | 71 | $596 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 65 | $526 |
| Methocarbamol | 62 | $368 |
| Pantoprazole Sodium | 20 | $252 |
| Gabapentin | 12 | $162 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) in Birmingham
- Kyle EudaileyBirmingham$184K
- Carlton RandlemanBirmingham$161K
- James DaviesBirmingham$99K
- Andrew PapoyBirmingham$63K
- Sara PereiraBirmingham$62K
- Panayotis VardasBirmingham$49K
- Clifton LewisBirmingham$47K
- Benjamin WeiBirmingham$18K
- John ThurberBirmingham$7K
- Sasha StillBirmingham$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.