James Garrison, MD
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · San Antonio, TXNPI 1003843830
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $22,917 of the $34,695 with a category attached, or 66.1%. 21 manufacturers reported payments, led by Atricure, Inc. at 37.6% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2022 at $13,098 and has fallen 58.8% since, to $5,400 in 2025.
Across 465 payments — averaging $74.61 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Atricure, Inc.$13K
- Medtronic$13K
- Abbott$5K
- Abiomed$1K
- Edwards Lifesciences$1K
- Baxter Healthcare$366
- plus $1K from 15 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$11,25032%
- Speaking & faculty fees$2001%
- Travel & lodging$3281%
- Food & beverage$22,91766%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Atricure, Inc. | 42 | $13,053 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 272 | $12,713 |
| Abbott | 87 | $4,783 |
| Abiomed | 21 | $1,223 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 8 | $1,089 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 5 | $366 |
| Davol Inc. | 7 | $261 |
| Kls-martin L.p. | 1 | $169 |
| Corcym Inc | 1 | $160 |
| Terumo Cardiovascular Systems Corporation | 1 | $150 |
| Getinge USA Sales, LLC | 3 | $142 |
| Medical Device Business Services, Inc. | 1 | $125 |
| AstraZeneca | 1 | $102 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 4 | $88 |
| LSI Solutions Inc | 3 | $87 |
| Bolton Medical Inc | 3 | $70 |
| Artivion, Inc. | 1 | $29 |
| Intuitive Surgical | 1 | $24 |
| Dilon Technologies, Inc. | 1 | $23 |
| Novartis | 1 | $20 |
| Pfizer | 1 | $17 |
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.
- EPI-SENSE GUIDED COAGULATION SYSTEM WITH VISITRAX$11,507
- COREVALVE EVOLUT R$5,558
- ATRICLIP LAA EXCLUSION SYSTEM$2,406
- Epic$800
- Impella$533
- CoreValve Evolut$526
- Edwards SAPIEN 3 Ultra Transcatheter Heart Valve$504
- Avalus$473
- Trifecta GT Tissue Heart Valve$322
- Mosaic$271
- ATRICURE ATRICLIP LAA EXCLUSION$268
- 3F$246
- NAVITOR$186
- Perceval$160
- PREVELEAK$157
- MitraClip$154
- Capiox$150
- CDI$150
- Virtuosaph$150
- Sarns$150
How this compares
$34,695 in reported general payments places this provider in the 80th 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 San Antonio
- Victor Bautista-HernandezSan Antonio$47K
- Faraz KerendiAustin$906K
- Robert HebelerDallas$723K
- Michael ReardonHouston$713K
- Danny RamzyHouston$527K
- Scott OlssonCypress$357K
- Randall WolfHouston$283K
- Gary JettPlano$277K
- Darien BradfordBurleson$266K
- William BrinkmanPlano$266K
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.