Joel Smith, MD
Orthopaedic Surgery · Little Rock, ARNPI 1770622441
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — education (58.9%), travel and lodging and food and beverage — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 11 manufacturers reported payments, led by Arthrex at 35.5% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $2,424 and has fallen 98.3% since, to $40 in 2025.
Across 37 payments — averaging $153.38 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Arthrex$2K
- Zimmer Biomet$2K
- Midsouth Orthopedics Inc.$2K
- Stryker$181
- Pacira Pharmaceuticals Incorporated$95
- Pacira Therapeutics, Inc.$50
- plus $103 from 5 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$1,33524%
- Food & beverage$99918%
- Education$3,34159%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Arthrex | 5 | $2,017 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 11 | $1,650 |
| Midsouth Orthopedics Inc. | 9 | $1,579 |
| Stryker | 2 | $181 |
| Pacira Pharmaceuticals Incorporated | 3 | $95 |
| Pacira Therapeutics, Inc. | 2 | $50 |
| Smith+Nephew | 1 | $40 |
| DJO, LLC | 1 | $25 |
| Bioventus LLC | 1 | $15 |
| Amgen | 1 | $13 |
| Kinex Medical Company LLC | 1 | $10 |
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.
How this compares
$5,675 in reported general payments places this provider in the 65th percentile of 168 orthopaedic surgery providers in Arkansas.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| EliquisApixaban | 25 | $5,866 |
| Oxycodone-AcetaminophenOxycodone Hcl/Acetaminophen | 220 | $2,737 |
| Naloxone Hcl | 40 | $2,648 |
| Mupirocin | 90 | $624 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 99 | $589 |
| Methylprednisolone | 30 | $225 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 34 | $78 |
| Tizanidine Hcl | 12 | $34 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other orthopaedic surgery in Little Rock
- Benjamin StronachLittle Rock$2.5M
- Charles BarnesLittle Rock$2.1M
- Kenneth MartinLittle Rock$322K
- David BumpassLittle Rock$175K
- Lawrence O'MalleyLittle Rock$151K
- Jason SmithLittle Rock$102K
- Richard McCarthyLittle Rock$75K
- Jacob TauntonLittle Rock$62K
- Jeffrey ReeseLittle Rock$59K
- Justin RabinowitzLittle Rock$45K
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.