Hunter Kirkland, MD
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Austin, TXNPI 1942214788
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 100.0% of the total across 99 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. 14 manufacturers reported payments, led by Medtronic at 47.3% of the total. 2025 is the largest year on record at $1,807, 2.5 times the $712 reported in 2019. That places this record below the midpoint for thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) clinicians in TX, where the typical reported total is $5,866.
Across 99 payments — averaging $56.92 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Medtronic$3K
- Atricure, Inc.$1K
- Edwards Lifesciences$423
- Abiomed$265
- Cook Medical LLC$191
- Zimmer Biomet$167
- plus $883 from 8 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$5,635100%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 61 | $2,668 |
| Atricure, Inc. | 11 | $1,039 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 6 | $423 |
| Abiomed | 3 | $265 |
| Cook Medical LLC | 3 | $191 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 3 | $167 |
| Abbott | 4 | $164 |
| Penumbra, Inc. | 1 | $159 |
| BD | 2 | $144 |
| Angiodynamics, Inc. | 1 | $135 |
| Shockwave Medical, Inc | 1 | $119 |
| KCI USA, Inc. | 1 | $81 |
| Silk Road Medical, Inc. | 1 | $49 |
| Boston Scientific | 1 | $31 |
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.
- COREVALVE EVOLUT R$698
- ATRICLIP LAA EXCLUSION SYSTEM$463
- ATRICURE CRYOICE CRYOABLATION SYSTEM (CRYO2)$323
- CoreValve Evolut$260
- Impella$234
- Indigo System$159
- Avalus$157
- SYNERGY ABLATION SYSTEM$150
- FUSION ABLATION SYSTEM$146
- AngioVac$135
- HemoSphere$132
- Cook Medical Thoracic$127
- Shockwave IVL System with the Shockwave C2 Coronary IVL Catheter$119
- SternaLock Blu$118
How this compares
$5,635 in reported general payments places this provider in the 45th percentile of 424 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Texas.
See all thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Texas →
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 Austin
- Faraz KerendiAustin$906K
- Brannon HydeAustin$214K
- Jonathan YangAustin$178K
- Masahiro OnoAustin$119K
- Eric HoenickeAustin$61K
- Jeffrey McNeilAustin$49K
- Brendan DewanAustin$46K
- Robert HebelerDallas$723K
- Michael ReardonHouston$713K
- Danny RamzyHouston$527K
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.