James Kauten, MD
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Atlanta, GANPI 1336104744
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by consulting fees: $19,125 of the $21,092 with a category attached, or 90.7%. Boston Scientific accounts for 91.1% of it on its own, with 10 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2020 at $14,579 and has fallen 99.6% since, to $54 in 2024.
Across 103 payments — averaging $204.78 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Boston Scientific$19K
- Edwards Lifesciences$868
- Atricure, Inc.$349
- Artivion, Inc.$203
- Abbott$182
- Getinge USA Sales, LLC$147
- plus $135 from 5 others
Across 99 payments — averaging $5837.98 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.
- Medtronic$578K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$19,12591%
- Food & beverage$1,9679%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Boston Scientific | 28 | $19,208 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 34 | $868 |
| Atricure, Inc. | 25 | $349 |
| Artivion, Inc. | 2 | $203 |
| Abbott | 5 | $182 |
| Getinge USA Sales, LLC | 4 | $147 |
| LSI Solutions Inc | 1 | $87 |
| Kestra Medical Technology Services, Inc. | 1 | $13 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 1 | $12 |
| Medtronic | 1 | $11 |
| Hemosonics LLC | 1 | $11 |
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.
- CLINICAL TRIAL PRODUCT$18,000
- GENERAL - THERAPIES$1,125
- SAPIEN 3 Ultra RESILIA$342
- BioGlue$182
- On-X$182
How this compares
$21,092 in reported general payments places this provider in the 75th percentile of 144 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Georgia.
See all thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Georgia →
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 Atlanta
- Manu SanchetiAtlanta$805K
- John PuskasAtlanta$332K
- Douglas MurphyAtlanta$254K
- Ezequiel MolinaAtlanta$215K
- Gaetano PaoneAtlanta$134K
- Michael HalkosAtlanta$102K
- Allan PickensAtlanta$87K
- Bradley LeshnowerAtlanta$63K
- Kimberly HolstAtlanta$52K
- William KeelingAtlanta$49K
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.