James Hong
Foot & Ankle Surgery · Merrillville, INNPI 1881778009
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — food and beverage (51.9%), travel and lodging and education — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 35 manufacturers reported payments, led by Stryker at 52.1% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2021 at $6,599 and has fallen 62.9% since, to $2,449 in 2025.
Across 333 payments — averaging $62.73 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Stryker$11K
- Arthrex$4K
- Medwest Associates$2K
- Treace Medical Concepts, Inc.$967
- Smith+Nephew$669
- Lightbody Medical Technologies Inc$392
- plus $2K from 29 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$190%
- Travel & lodging$6,25930%
- Food & beverage$10,83452%
- Education$3,77718%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Stryker(2 entities) | 131 | $10,879 |
| Arthrex | 28 | $3,954 |
| Medwest Associates | 6 | $1,800 |
| Treace Medical Concepts, Inc. | 7 | $967 |
| Smith+Nephew | 47 | $669 |
| Lightbody Medical Technologies Inc | 4 | $392 |
| Orthofix Medical, Inc. | 19 | $274 |
| Johnson & Johnson(2 entities) | 5 | $238 |
| Amgen(2 entities) | 21 | $205 |
| Misonix Inc | 3 | $160 |
| GRT US Holding, Inc. | 10 | $151 |
| Paragon 28, Inc. | 1 | $137 |
| Next Science LLC | 6 | $135 |
| AbbVie(2 entities) | 6 | $125 |
| Integra Lifesciences Corporation | 4 | $110 |
| Fusion Orthopedics USA, LLC | 1 | $102 |
| Bioventus LLC | 5 | $99 |
| Kerecis Limited | 4 | $79 |
| Organogenesis Inc. | 5 | $74 |
| Averitas Pharma Inc. | 2 | $38 |
| Abbott | 2 | $35 |
| Exactech, Inc. | 1 | $31 |
| Assertio Therapeutics, Inc. | 2 | $29 |
| Kowa Pharmaceuticals America, Inc. | 2 | $26 |
| DJO, LLC | 1 | $23 |
| ERMI LLC | 1 | $23 |
| ANI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $22 |
| Mimedx Group, Inc. | 1 | $22 |
| Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $21 |
| Pacira Pharmaceuticals Incorporated | 1 | $16 |
| Ortho Dermatologics, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 1 | $13 |
| Acera Surgical, Inc. | 1 | $12 |
| Acell, Inc. | 1 | $12 |
| Electronic Waveform Lab, Inc. | 1 | $11 |
| Aroa Biosurgery Incorporated | 1 | $4 |
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.
- STAR$1,640
- HOFFMANN$1,365
- AXSOS$1,110
- AUGMENT INJECTABLE$1,110
- VARIAX$948
- INBONE$921
- Lapiplasty System$878
- PROstep$755
- GAMMA$696
- ACTISHIELD CF$472
- INVISION$425
- PRIME SERIES$278
- PROPHECY$209
- PROSTEP MICA$173
- CARTIVA SYNTHETIC CARTILAGE IMPLANT$165
- FUSEFORCE$160
- SONICANCHOR$155
- EASY CLIP$147
- BIO4$145
- GRAFIX PL$140
How this compares
$20,889 in reported general payments places this provider in the 85th percentile of 212 foot & ankle surgery providers in Indiana.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Ciclopirox | 19 | $564 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 57 | $415 |
| Meloxicam | 79 | $284 |
| Doxycycline Hyclate | 14 | $235 |
| Methylprednisolone | 50 | $200 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other foot & ankle surgery in Merrillville
- Steven HerbstMuncie$1.6M
- Douglas BlacklidgeKokomo$689K
- Patrick DeheerIndianapolis$493K
- Scott NevilleMooresville$353K
- Travis MontgomeryWestfield$345K
- Robert Clemency IiiSchererville$215K
- William AdamsGreenfield$178K
- Steven DouthettFort Wayne$153K
- Christopher WintersCarmel$152K
- Brian ElliottShelbyville$142K
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.