Ira Lown, MD
Surgery of the Hand · Austin, TXNPI 1487611463
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — travel and lodging (37.9%), education and food and beverage — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 10 manufacturers reported payments, led by Medinc Of Texas at 47.9% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $2,186 and has fallen 97.5% since, to $56 in 2025.
Across 40 payments — averaging $130.72 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Medinc Of Texas$3K
- Skeletal Dynamics Inc$831
- Arthrex$795
- Alafair Biosciences, Inc.$372
- Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc.$300
- Trice Medical, Inc.$195
- plus $232 from 4 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$1,98238%
- Food & beverage$1,34326%
- Education$1,90436%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Medinc Of Texas | 5 | $2,503 |
| Skeletal Dynamics Inc | 2 | $831 |
| Arthrex | 11 | $795 |
| Alafair Biosciences, Inc. | 6 | $372 |
| Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 6 | $300 |
| Trice Medical, Inc. | 1 | $195 |
| Axogen | 3 | $108 |
| Endo USA, Inc. | 2 | $52 |
| Bioventus LLC | 2 | $41 |
| Integra Lifesciences Corporation | 2 | $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.
How this compares
$5,229 in reported general payments places this provider in the 70th percentile of 68 surgery of the hand 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.
Most prescribed under Part D
| Drug | Claims | Cost to plans & patients |
|---|---|---|
| Acetaminophen-CodeineAcetaminophen With Codeine | 53 | $225 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 14 | $107 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other surgery of the hand in Austin
- Harrison KayAustin$19K
- Gregg VagnerAustin$9K
- Brent EgelandAustin$2K
- Sanjay SharmaAustin$1K
- Umeshchandra GadariaAustin$453
- Desirae McKeeLubbock$59K
- Stuart HilliardDenton$21K
- Suresh KoneruSan Antonio$17K
- Dustin RayDallas$15K
- Laurence WeiderDallas$13K
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.