John Vega, MD
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Atlanta, GANPI 1063501633
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by consulting fees: $27,803 of the $30,958 with a category attached, or 89.8%. Medtronic accounts for 67.1% of it on its own, with 6 other manufacturers making up the rest.
Across 53 payments — averaging $584.12 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Medtronic$21K
- Briohealth Solutions, Inc.$6K
- Abbott$3K
- Medistim USA, Inc.$288
- Abiomed$97
- United Orthopedics LLC$61
- plus $22 from 1 others
Across 97 payments — averaging $3579.38 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.
- Abbott$320K
- Medtronic$26K
- Carmat$634
- Transmedics, Inc.$545
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$27,80390%
- Travel & lodging$1,9406%
- Food & beverage$1,2164%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 31 | $20,759 |
| Briohealth Solutions, Inc. | 11 | $6,300 |
| Abbott | 6 | $3,432 |
| Medistim USA, Inc. | 2 | $288 |
| Abiomed | 1 | $97 |
| United Orthopedics LLC | 1 | $61 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 1 | $22 |
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.
- HeartWare HVAD$13,750
- BRIOVAD$6,213
- HeartMate 3 Left Ventricular Dev$3,266
- MiraQ$288
- THORATEC HEARTMATE 3 LVAS IMPLANT KIT$149
How this compares
$30,958 in reported general payments places this provider in the 85th 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.