James Kercher, MD
Sports Medicine · Atlanta, GANPI 1518143676
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by consulting fees: $19,538 of the $23,609 with a category attached, or 82.8%. 9 manufacturers reported payments, led by Surgalign Spine Technologies, Inc. at 58.8% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $16,096 and has fallen 55.3% since, to $7,194 in 2025.
Across 35 payments — averaging $674.54 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Surgalign Spine Technologies, Inc.$14K
- RTI Surgical, Inc$7K
- Arthrex$2K
- Vericel Corporation$55
- Johnson & Johnson$37
- Anika Therapeutics, Inc.$32
- plus $56 from 3 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$19,53883%
- Speaking & faculty fees$1,0004%
- Travel & lodging$1,6297%
- Food & beverage$1,4426%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Surgalign Spine Technologies, Inc. | 10 | $13,871 |
| RTI Surgical, Inc | 3 | $7,232 |
| Arthrex | 16 | $2,325 |
| Vericel Corporation | 1 | $55 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 1 | $37 |
| Anika Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $32 |
| Bioventus LLC | 1 | $20 |
| Amgen | 1 | $19 |
| Pacira Therapeutics, Inc. | 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.
- ALLOGRAFT$12,907
- BIOCLEANSE MENISCUS$7,038
- Fresh-stored OC$1,000
How this compares
$23,609 in reported general payments places this provider in the 85th percentile of 168 sports medicine 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.
Most prescribed under Part D
| Drug | Claims | Cost to plans & patients |
|---|---|---|
| Oxycodone-AcetaminophenOxycodone Hcl/Acetaminophen | 11 | $101 |
| Methylprednisolone | 14 | $42 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other sports medicine in Atlanta
- John XerogeanesAtlanta$4M
- Spero KarasAtlanta$137K
- Xavier DuraldeAtlanta$77K
- Thomas MyersAtlanta$72K
- Phillip LangerAtlanta$33K
- Richard DanilkowiczAtlanta$32K
- Austin LooneyAtlanta$29K
- Kyle HammondAtlanta$18K
- Charles GartenAtlanta$16K
- John KoprivaAtlanta$10K
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.