Joseph Choi, MD
Orthopaedic Surgery · Westfield, NJNPI 1396265682
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — education (43.9%), travel and lodging and food and beverage — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 9 manufacturers reported payments, led by Smith+Nephew at 46.8% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2023 at $7,892 and has fallen 93.7% since, to $500 in 2025.
Across 63 payments — averaging $180.81 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Smith+Nephew$5K
- Stryker$4K
- Arthrex$1K
- Seapearl East, Inc$192
- Nevro Corp.$122
- Johnson & Johnson$100
- plus $136 from 3 others
Across 7 payments — averaging $2107.86 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.
- Lima USA, Inc.$15K
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$3,78033%
- Food & beverage$2,61223%
- Education$5,00044%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Smith+Nephew | 7 | $5,328 |
| Stryker | 21 | $4,251 |
| Arthrex | 21 | $1,263 |
| Seapearl East, Inc | 3 | $192 |
| Nevro Corp. | 1 | $122 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 4 | $100 |
| Orthofix Medical, Inc. | 2 | $52 |
| Vericel Corporation | 2 | $48 |
| Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 2 | $36 |
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.
- SALVATION$1,674
- NANOPASS$1,174
- HIPCHECK$326
- Bioinductive Implant with Arthroscopic Delivery System - Medium$171
- NANOTACK FLEX$165
- COBRA$149
- CINCHLOCK$148
- AEQUALIS PERFORM REVERSED$136
- Senza$122
How this compares
$11,391 in reported general payments places this provider in the 70th percentile of 587 orthopaedic surgery providers in New Jersey.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Meloxicam | 92 | $371 |
| Methylprednisolone | 30 | $187 |
| Celecoxib | 28 | $102 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 28 | $65 |
| Gabapentin | 31 | $59 |
| Oxycodone Hcl | 24 | $57 |
| Cyclobenzaprine Hcl | 15 | $43 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other orthopaedic surgery in Westfield
- Michael KellyHackensack$9.7M
- Mark HartzbandParamus$9.4M
- Randal BetzLawrenceville$3M
- Luke AustinSewell$2.9M
- Kenneth MontgomeryMorristown$2.7M
- Zachary PostEgg Harbor Township$1.7M
- Harlan LevineMontvale$1.5M
- Jeffrey AbramsPrinceton$1.5M
- Gregg KleinParamus$1.5M
- David NazarianMarlton$1.3M
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.