Frank Bauer, MD
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Little Rock, ARNPI 1902982754
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 100.0% of the total across 64 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. It is spread thinly across 14 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 17.3% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations. Reporting peaked in 2021 at $610 and has fallen 94.5% since, to $34 in 2025. That places this record below the midpoint for thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) clinicians in AR, where the typical reported total is $3,916.
Across 64 payments — averaging $26.93 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Abbott$298
- Elutia, Inc.$285
- Abiomed$263
- Atricure, Inc.$231
- Edwards Lifesciences$139
- Amarin Pharma, Inc.$125
- plus $383 from 8 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$1,724100%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Abbott | 7 | $298 |
| Elutia, Inc. | 9 | $285 |
| Abiomed | 11 | $263 |
| Atricure, Inc. | 18 | $231 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 1 | $139 |
| Amarin Pharma, Inc. | 1 | $125 |
| Johnson & Johnson(2 entities) | 6 | $112 |
| Lemaitre Vascular, Inc. | 2 | $110 |
| Davol Inc. | 1 | $45 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 2 | $35 |
| Smith+Nephew | 2 | $32 |
| Silk Road Medical, Inc. | 2 | $24 |
| Medtronic | 1 | $14 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 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.
How this compares
$1,724 in reported general payments places this provider in the 35th percentile of 48 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Arkansas.
See all thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Arkansas →
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 Little Rock
- Bassam ShukrallahLittle Rock$325K
- Pouya HemmatiLittle Rock$168K
- Katy MarinoLittle Rock$99K
- Charles ColeLittle Rock$23K
- Karol MudyLittle Rock$21K
- Jason MuesseLittle Rock$20K
- Kristofer FreelandLittle Rock$16K
- Michael NolenLittle Rock$15K
- John StreitmanLittle Rock$14K
- John RansomLittle Rock$12K
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.