Joseph Cox, MD
Orthopaedic Surgery · Gulfport, MSNPI 1609163682
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — consulting fees (57.7%), travel and lodging and food and beverage — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. Alphatec Spine, Inc accounts for 95.9% of it on its own, with 21 other manufacturers making up the rest. 2025 is the largest year on record at $21,255, 4.5 times the $4,718 reported in 2019. Among orthopaedic surgery clinicians in MS with any reported payments, this total sits in the top 10% — high for the specialty, which is a reason to read the composition above rather than the number alone.
Across 129 payments — averaging $649.05 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Alphatec Spine, Inc$80K
- ALON Medical Technology$743
- Arthrex$616
- Globus Medical$507
- Smith+Nephew$206
- Stryker$171
- plus $1K from 16 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$48,35058%
- Speaking & faculty fees$2060%
- Travel & lodging$30,47136%
- Food & beverage$4,6726%
- Entertainment$280%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Alphatec Spine, Inc | 79 | $80,326 |
| ALON Medical Technology | 5 | $743 |
| Arthrex | 7 | $616 |
| Globus Medical | 1 | $507 |
| Smith+Nephew | 1 | $206 |
| Stryker | 2 | $171 |
| Sanara Medtech Inc. | 1 | $168 |
| Providence Medical Technology, Inc. | 5 | $152 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 2 | $149 |
| Amgen | 10 | $134 |
| DJO, LLC | 4 | $114 |
| Vertex | 1 | $94 |
| Spinal Simplicity, LLC | 1 | $86 |
| Abbott | 2 | $68 |
| Next Science LLC | 1 | $62 |
| 4web, Inc. | 1 | $31 |
| Radius Health, Inc. | 1 | $24 |
| Pacira Pharmaceuticals Incorporated | 1 | $17 |
| Pacira Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $16 |
| Boston Scientific | 1 | $16 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 1 | $15 |
| Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $13 |
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.
- Other - Miscellaneous$34,397
- Solus ALIF$12,250
- ALIF$1,200
- LIF$523
- Excelsius - GPS$507
- MULTIPLE$382
- TSS$206
- Battalion PLIF - PS$189
- CellerateRx$168
- INVICTUS OPEN$162
- SafeOp$162
- TRITANIUM$133
- Lateral$132
- VA-LCP$116
- HAMMERLOCK$116
- Microfix Quickanchor Ethibond$116
- ACTIS$116
- Solanas$102
How this compares
$83,727 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 170 orthopaedic surgery providers in Mississippi.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 126 | $846 |
| Naproxen | 65 | $837 |
| Gabapentin | 116 | $732 |
| Diclofenac Sodium | 47 | $495 |
| Oxycodone-AcetaminophenOxycodone Hcl/Acetaminophen | 37 | $365 |
| Cyclobenzaprine Hcl | 69 | $362 |
| Ondansetron OdtOndansetron | 57 | $299 |
| Methocarbamol | 16 | $118 |
| Mupirocin | 18 | $87 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 32 | $69 |
| Doxycycline Hyclate | 12 | $50 |
| Meloxicam | 13 | $20 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other orthopaedic surgery in Gulfport
- Philip MyersGulfport$43K
- Eric GrahamGulfport$15K
- Inez KelleherGulfport$13K
- Matthew GravesJackson$1.2M
- George van OstenTupelo$322K
- Edward HobgoodJackson$267K
- Hanna MitiasNew Albany$249K
- Stephen SouthworthTupelo$160K
- Jamey BurrowJackson$130K
- Jeff AlmandJackson$109K
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.