Jaime Ponce-Portugal, MD
Surgery · Chattanooga, TNNPI 1245280023
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — consulting fees (35.6%), speaking fees and education — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 18 manufacturers reported payments, led by W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. at 33.9% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $85,197 and has fallen 83.8% since, to $13,794 in 2025. Among surgery clinicians in TN with any reported payments, this total sits in the top 5% — high for the specialty, which is a reason to read the composition above rather than the number alone.
Across 660 payments — averaging $624.65 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.$140K
- Medtronic$108K
- Olympus Corporation Of The Americas$74K
- Intuitive Surgical$26K
- Olympus Latin America, Inc.$17K
- Johnson & Johnson$14K
- plus $33K from 12 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$146,72136%
- Speaking & faculty fees$103,36625%
- Travel & lodging$45,08611%
- Food & beverage$26,0946%
- Education$90,96322%
- Gifts$390%
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. | 148 | $139,559 |
| Medtronic | 231 | $108,197 |
| Olympus Corporation Of The Americas | 68 | $74,215 |
| Intuitive Surgical | 102 | $26,372 |
| Olympus Latin America, Inc. | 12 | $16,738 |
| Johnson & Johnson(2 entities) | 18 | $13,974 |
| Reshape Lifesciences Inc. | 14 | $12,939 |
| Applied Medical Resources Corporation | 21 | $12,713 |
| Covidien LP | 14 | $4,032 |
| Medical Device Business Services, Inc. | 7 | $1,529 |
| Gyrus ACMI, Inc. | 1 | $553 |
| Endogastric Solutions, Inc | 4 | $516 |
| Novo Nordisk | 10 | $316 |
| Olympus America Inc. | 4 | $228 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 2 | $213 |
| Inari Medical, Inc. | 1 | $107 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 2 | $46 |
| AbbVie | 1 | $23 |
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 SEAMGUARD Bioabsorbable Staple Line Reinforce$82,358
- SEAMGUARD Staple Line Reinforcement$26,550
- ThunderBeat$24,700
- Da Vinci Surgical System$18,894
- GORE BIO-A Tissue Reinforcement$15,930
- Olympus Laparoscopic Accessories$14,270
- 4-K Monitors$13,650
- LigaSure$13,298
- Olympus Laparoscopes$13,124
- Signia$12,967
- Olympus Laparoscopic Insufflation$12,544
- HARMONIC Product Family$12,309
- ENSEAL Product Family$12,309
- Olympus Laparoscopic Suction Irrigation$12,025
- SYNECOR Biomaterial$12,000
- 4-K Processor/LS$11,050
- 4-K Telescopes$11,050
- Olympus Surgical Accessories$9,425
- DVI CABLE 3M$9,100
- Electro-Surgical$8,450
How this compares
$412,269 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 516 surgery providers in Tennessee.
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 surgery in Chattanooga
- Nadine RamppChattanooga$30K
- John GwinChattanooga$24K
- Heath BroussardJackson$688K
- Eric WallaceCookeville$529K
- John RobertsonJohnson City$432K
- Evelio RodriguezNashville$362K
- Mathew NinanNashville$298K
- Joseph BroucekNashville$262K
- Linda HanGermantown$252K
- Myron StokesCordova$240K
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.