Joseph Burns, MD
Sports Medicine · Alpharetta, GANPI 1457347874
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — other (55.3%), consulting fees and travel and lodging — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. Linvatec Corporation accounts for 75.4% of it on its own, with 20 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2022 at $176,021 and has fallen 72.4% since, to $48,502 in 2025. Among sports medicine clinicians in GA with any reported payments, this total sits in the top 5% — high for the specialty, which is a reason to read the composition above rather than the number alone.
Across 159 payments — averaging $2362.28 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Linvatec Corporation$283K
- Biorez, Inc.$60K
- Medical Device Business Services, Inc.$16K
- Arthrex$6K
- Johnson & Johnson$2K
- Depuy Synthes Products, Inc.$2K
- plus $5K from 15 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$144,34038%
- Speaking & faculty fees$4,0001%
- Travel & lodging$9,8713%
- Food & beverage$5,3101%
- Education$4,1111%
- Gifts$1610%
- Other$207,80955%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Linvatec Corporation | 49 | $283,216 |
| Biorez, Inc. | 6 | $60,430 |
| Medical Device Business Services, Inc. | 12 | $16,004 |
| Arthrex | 17 | $6,321 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 39 | $2,156 |
| Depuy Synthes Products, Inc. | 2 | $2,070 |
| Stryker | 14 | $1,794 |
| Micromed Inc | 1 | $1,301 |
| United Orthopedics LLC | 1 | $680 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 4 | $663 |
| Team 1, LLC | 1 | $581 |
| Smith+Nephew | 3 | $136 |
| Kerecis Limited | 1 | $60 |
| Dynasplint Systems Inc. | 1 | $52 |
| Acumed LLC | 1 | $30 |
| Innovation Technologies Inc | 1 | $29 |
| Anika Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $25 |
| Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $16 |
| Heron Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $15 |
| SPR Therapeutics, Inc | 2 | $14 |
| Vericel Corporation | 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.
- BioBrace 23mm$323,032
- BioBrace 5mm$60,334
- LINVATEC SHOULDER ARTHROSCOPY$19,264
- FMS Duo$12,015
- BLUEPRINT PATIENT SPECIFIC INSTRUMENTATION$1,259
- N/A$835
- FMS$767
- KNEE BIOLOGICS$676
- VAPR$542
- DYNACORD$517
- AEQUALIS PERFORM$513
- TRUESPAN ORTHOCORD$271
- AEQUALIS PERFORM REVERSED$189
- COMPREHENSIVE$169
- AEQUALIS FLEX REVIVE$161
- NA$149
- Knees-None$149
- Hips-None$149
- MILAGRO$144
- RIGIDLOOP$126
How this compares
$375,602 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 168 sports medicine 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Oxycodone Hcl | 66 | $286 |
| Ibuprofen | 94 | $229 |
| Methocarbamol | 55 | $200 |
| Methylprednisolone | 19 | $132 |
| Naproxen | 52 | $118 |
| Meloxicam | 41 | $73 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 15 | $24 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other sports medicine in Alpharetta
- Mark SakrAlpharetta$14K
- John XerogeanesAtlanta$4M
- Sameh LabibBrookhaven$280K
- Spero KarasAtlanta$137K
- Xavier DuraldeAtlanta$77K
- Thomas MyersAtlanta$72K
- Robert O'ConnellCarrollton$69K
- Elan GolanSnellville$57K
- Taylor PolanderJesup$48K
- Anthony CantrellCanton$47K
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.