John Gouldman, MD
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Atlanta, GANPI 1871511071
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — food and beverage (48.6%), travel and lodging and education — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 29 manufacturers reported payments, led by Intuitive Surgical at 50.1% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $3,414 and has fallen 70.5% since, to $1,006 in 2025. That places this record below the midpoint for thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) clinicians in GA, where the typical reported total is $6,234.
Across 80 payments — averaging $77.95 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Intuitive Surgical$3K
- Johnson & Johnson$1K
- AstraZeneca$351
- Atricure, Inc.$342
- Edwards Lifesciences$206
- Coastal Medical Technologies LLC$168
- plus $990 from 23 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$1,70427%
- Food & beverage$3,03249%
- Education$1,50024%
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 | 16 | $3,123 |
| Johnson & Johnson(3 entities) | 15 | $1,056 |
| AstraZeneca | 6 | $351 |
| Atricure, Inc. | 6 | $342 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 2 | $206 |
| Coastal Medical Technologies LLC | 1 | $168 |
| On Target Laboratories, Inc | 1 | $161 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 1 | $125 |
| Davol Inc. | 2 | $86 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 3 | $61 |
| Medtronic | 3 | $60 |
| Covidien LP | 4 | $51 |
| Mallinckrodt Enterprises LLC | 2 | $46 |
| Boston Scientific | 2 | $41 |
| Kls-martin L.p. | 2 | $35 |
| Ambu Inc. | 1 | $31 |
| Merck | 1 | $31 |
| Biom'up SA | 1 | $30 |
| Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc. | 1 | $29 |
| BD | 1 | $28 |
| Convatec Inc. | 1 | $26 |
| Apollo Endosurgery US Inc | 1 | $24 |
| Cook Medical LLC | 1 | $21 |
| Biom'up France SAS | 1 | $21 |
| Integra Lifesciences Corporation | 1 | $18 |
| Aroa Biosurgery Incorporated | 1 | $17 |
| Hydrofera LLC | 1 | $16 |
| Acera Surgical, Inc. | 1 | $16 |
| Access Pro Medical, LLC | 1 | $14 |
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
$6,236 in reported general payments places this provider in the 50th 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.
Most prescribed under Part D
| Drug | Claims | Cost to plans & patients |
|---|---|---|
| Methocarbamol | 30 | $179 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 59 | $104 |
| Metoprolol Tartrate | 14 | $42 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
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.