Joseph Buckwalter, MD
Hand Surgery · Iowa City, IANPI 1952693129
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — food and beverage (42.4%), education and travel and lodging — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 9 manufacturers reported payments, led by Arthrex at 48.2% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2022 at $1,532 and has fallen 80.3% since, to $301 in 2025.
Across 25 payments — averaging $152.06 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Arthrex$2K
- Stryker$1K
- Sonex Health, Inc.$405
- Integra Lifesciences Corporation$162
- Trimed, Inc.$151
- Prism Medical$107
- plus $128 from 3 others
Across 8 payments — averaging $14,320 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.
- Sonex Health, Inc.$90K
- Arthrex$25K
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$98826%
- Food & beverage$1,61342%
- Education$1,20032%
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 | $1,831 |
| Stryker | 9 | $1,017 |
| Sonex Health, Inc. | 4 | $405 |
| Integra Lifesciences Corporation | 1 | $162 |
| Trimed, Inc. | 1 | $151 |
| Prism Medical | 1 | $107 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 2 | $79 |
| Acera Surgical, Inc. | 1 | $28 |
| Medartis Inc. | 1 | $21 |
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.
- INTEGRA$487
- Sx-One Microknife$337
- VARIAX$275
- SWANSON$275
- NEUROMEND$251
- BIOLOX$171
- BIO4$171
- INTEGRA DERMAL REGENERATION TEMPLATE$162
- PRIMATRIX$162
- Tools - WFS$151
- CONEXTIONS TR TENDON REPAIR SYSTEM-IMPLANT MECHANISM$146
How this compares
$3,802 in reported general payments places this provider in the 75th percentile of 24 hand surgery providers in Iowa.
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 hand surgery in Iowa City
- Tyson CobbDavenport$155K
- Melissa Young-SzalayWest Des Moines$16K
- Betsey BeanAmes$13K
- Brock ReiterAnkeny$9K
- Peter ChimentiCedar Rapids$5K
- Shane CookDes Moines$4K
- John HeinemanDes Moines$4K
- Jonathan WinstonBettendorf$3K
- Jeffrey RodgersWest Des Moines$2K
- Ericka LawlerNorth Liberty$2K
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.