Joel Whipple, MD
Surgery · Jonesboro, ARNPI 1679006787
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — education (52.2%), travel and lodging and food and beverage — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. Intuitive Surgical accounts for 93.4% of it on its own, with 13 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2023 at $6,247 and has fallen 67.5% since, to $2,031 in 2025.
Across 69 payments — averaging $187.56 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Intuitive Surgical$12K
- Medtronic$255
- TELA Bio, Inc.$161
- Boston Scientific$117
- Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc.$82
- Innovation Technologies Inc$57
- plus $177 from 8 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$3,82530%
- Food & beverage$2,34218%
- Education$6,75052%
- Gifts$250%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Intuitive Surgical | 43 | $12,093 |
| Medtronic | 7 | $255 |
| TELA Bio, Inc. | 3 | $161 |
| Boston Scientific | 1 | $117 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 4 | $82 |
| Innovation Technologies Inc | 2 | $57 |
| Polynovo North America LLC | 1 | $42 |
| Kerecis Limited | 2 | $36 |
| Solventum Corporation | 1 | $25 |
| Midsouth Orthopedics Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| Davol Inc. | 1 | $16 |
| Innocoll Pharmaceuticals Limited | 1 | $16 |
| Merit Medical Systems Inc | 1 | $14 |
| Phathom Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 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.
- DAVINCI XI$6,750
- Da Vinci Surgical System$4,386
- SpyGlass Discover$117
How this compares
$12,942 in reported general payments places this provider in the 80th percentile of 227 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Peg 3350-ElectrolyteSodium Chloride/Nahco3/Kcl/Peg | 103 | $2,719 |
| Sod Sulf-Potass Sulf-Mag SulfSodium, Potassium,mag Sulfates | 16 | $1,034 |
| Sucralfate | 14 | $688 |
| Pantoprazole Sodium | 42 | $291 |
| Ondansetron Hcl | 45 | $239 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 47 | $207 |
| Oxycodone Hcl | 15 | $49 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other surgery in Jonesboro
- Alice CherquiJonesboro$71K
- Jessica HobbyJonesboro$40K
- Joshua TollesonJonesboro$38K
- Willie HarperJonesboro$20K
- Dexter RichJonesboro$19K
- Joseph HurstonJonesboro$16K
- Gregory LynchJonesboro$12K
- Jonathan AltomarJonesboro$11K
- Joshua RollerFayetteville$248K
- Brian PottorfFayetteville$64K
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.