Francis Herrbold, MD
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Albany, GANPI 1356342281
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 100.0% of the total across 116 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. 21 manufacturers reported payments, led by W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. at 46.1% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2023 at $2,251 and has fallen 81.8% since, to $410 in 2024. That places this record below the midpoint for thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) clinicians in GA, where the typical reported total is $6,234.
Across 116 payments — averaging $58.75 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.$3K
- Edwards Lifesciences$482
- Abiomed$469
- Atricure, Inc.$466
- Zimmer Biomet$460
- Abbott$267
- plus $2K from 15 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$6,815100%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. | 44 | $3,139 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 12 | $482 |
| Abiomed | 6 | $469 |
| Atricure, Inc. | 9 | $466 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 10 | $460 |
| Abbott | 5 | $267 |
| Endologix LLC | 1 | $234 |
| Bolton Medical Inc | 2 | $218 |
| Cardiovascular Systems Inc. | 7 | $206 |
| Lemaitre Vascular, Inc. | 2 | $180 |
| Shockwave Medical, Inc | 2 | $161 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 3 | $153 |
| Medical Device Business Services, Inc. | 1 | $119 |
| Inari Medical, Inc. | 1 | $100 |
| Boston Scientific | 3 | $37 |
| Kls-martin L.p. | 2 | $32 |
| Biom'up SA | 1 | $25 |
| Cook Medical LLC | 2 | $24 |
| Elutia, Inc. | 1 | $16 |
| LSI Solutions Inc | 1 | $14 |
| Novartis | 1 | $13 |
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.
- GORE VIABAHN VBX Balloon Expandable Endo$493
- GORE VIABAHN Endoprosthesis$457
- Impella$396
- VIABAHN Endoprosthesis with PROPATEN Bioactive Surface$351
- AFX$234
- Ovation$234
- FLOWTRIEVER CATHETER, S$201
- Shockwave IVL System with the Shockwave C2 Coronary IVL Catheter$144
- INSPIRIS RESILIA aortic valve$135
- Relay Grafts$131
- COREVALVE EVOLUT R$127
- ATRICURE CRYOICE CRYOABLATION SYSTEM (CRYO2)$123
- Diamondback Peripheral$111
- Conformable TAG Thoracic Endoprosthesis$110
- EPI-SENSE GUIDED COAGULATION SYSTEM WITH VISITRAX$105
- GORE TAG Conformable Thoracic Endoprosthesis$105
- MITRIS RESILIA Mitral Valve$103
- SternaLock 360$100
How this compares
$6,815 in reported general payments places this provider in the 50th percentile of 144 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Georgia.
See all thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Georgia →
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 Albany
- Jeremy LondonSavannah$1.6M
- Vinod ThouraniMarietta$1.2M
- Manu SanchetiAtlanta$805K
- John PuskasAtlanta$332K
- Douglas MurphyAtlanta$254K
- Daniel MillerMarietta$237K
- Ezequiel MolinaAtlanta$215K
- Gaetano PaoneAtlanta$134K
- Michael HalkosAtlanta$102K
- William MayfieldMarietta$89K
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.