Elizabeth Kline, MD
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Charleston, SCNPI 1306817200
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — education (50.6%), travel and lodging and food and beverage — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. Intuitive Surgical accounts for 95.1% of it on its own, with 10 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2022 at $11,770 and has fallen 90.8% since, to $1,086 in 2025.
Across 66 payments — averaging $239.36 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Intuitive Surgical$15K
- AstraZeneca$423
- Livanova USA, Inc.$121
- Merck$52
- Atricure, Inc.$49
- Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc.$48
- plus $87 from 5 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$4233%
- Speaking & faculty fees$6954%
- Travel & lodging$4,38328%
- Food & beverage$2,02513%
- Education$8,00051%
- Gifts$2722%
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 | 51 | $15,018 |
| AstraZeneca | 1 | $423 |
| Livanova USA, Inc. | 1 | $121 |
| Merck | 2 | $52 |
| Atricure, Inc. | 2 | $49 |
| Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. | 3 | $48 |
| Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 2 | $31 |
| Boston Scientific | 1 | $16 |
| Bayer | 1 | $16 |
| AbbVie | 1 | $13 |
| Therapeuticsmd, Inc. | 1 | $12 |
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.
- Da Vinci Surgical System$8,105
- ION$3,000
- DAVINCI XI$3,000
- Perceval$121
How this compares
$15,798 in reported general payments places this provider in the 80th percentile of 83 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in South Carolina.
See all thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in South 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.
Most prescribed under Part D
| Drug | Claims | Cost to plans & patients |
|---|---|---|
| Gabapentin | 20 | $149 |
| Oxycodone Hcl | 11 | $65 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 32 | $27 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) in Charleston
- Curtis QuinnCharleston$374K
- Marc KatzCharleston$265K
- Arman KilicCharleston$170K
- Barry GibneyCharleston$39K
- Jacob KlapperCharleston$38K
- Kathryn EngelhartdtCharleston$33K
- Sanford ZeiglerCharleston$30K
- Alexander SbrocchiCharleston$14K
- Scott RossCharleston$12K
- Sarah ChenCharleston$8K
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.