James Elder, MD
Neurological Surgery · Columbus, OHNPI 1427221803
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — consulting fees (51.5%), travel and lodging and food and beverage — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 9 manufacturers reported payments, led by Medtronic at 47.7% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $16,443 and has fallen 79.4% since, to $3,390 in 2025.
Across 64 payments — averaging $379.89 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Medtronic$12K
- Clearpoint Neuro, Inc.$5K
- Varian Medical Systems, Inc.$4K
- Medical Device Business Services, Inc.$3K
- Icotec Medical Inc.$476
- Kls-martin L.p.$163
- plus $218 from 3 others
Across 3 payments — averaging $16,247 each. Payments tied to a research study. These frequently flow through the physician to a hospital or research institution rather than to the physician personally.
- Bayer$37K
- Icotec Medical Inc.$10K
- Icad, Inc$1K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$12,52352%
- Speaking & faculty fees$3,00012%
- Travel & lodging$4,65419%
- Food & beverage$3,97916%
- Gifts$1581%
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) | 22 | $11,602 |
| Clearpoint Neuro, Inc. | 26 | $4,824 |
| Varian Medical Systems, Inc. | 5 | $4,456 |
| Medical Device Business Services, Inc. | 1 | $2,575 |
| Icotec Medical Inc. | 5 | $476 |
| Kls-martin L.p. | 2 | $163 |
| Abbott | 1 | $104 |
| Longeviti Neuro Solutions Inc | 1 | $102 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 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.
- StealthStation$9,322
- Clinac$4,434
- CLEARPOINT$4,269
- MATRIXNEURO$2,575
- MAZOR X SYSTEM$803
- Stealth Autoguide$488
- STEALTHSTATION S8 PLATFORM$360
- icotec BlackArmor Spine System$158
- CD HORIZON SPINAL SYSTEM$127
- INFINITY$104
- CLEARFIT$102
How this compares
$24,313 in reported general payments places this provider in the 80th percentile of 301 neurological surgery providers in Ohio.
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 neurological surgery in Columbus
- Christian BonassoColumbus$656K
- Russell LonserColumbus$419K
- Chris KarasColumbus$339K
- David XuColumbus$263K
- Andrew GrossbachColumbus$213K
- Stephanus ViljoenColumbus$115K
- Patrick YoussefColumbus$96K
- Daniel PrevedelloColumbus$93K
- Shahid NimjeeColumbus$81K
- Vikram ChakravarthyColumbus$77K
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.