Joseph Schwartz, MD
Hand Surgery · Merrillville, INNPI 1619978350
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — education (39.3%), travel and lodging and food and beverage — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. Medwest Associates accounts for 64.4% of it on its own, with 14 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2021 at $1,412 and has fallen 98.3% since, to $25 in 2025.
Across 37 payments — averaging $82.57 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Medwest Associates$2K
- Arthrex$542
- Zimmer Biomet$126
- Orthofix Medical, Inc.$73
- Stryker$68
- AbbVie$58
- plus $220 from 9 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$1,10036%
- Food & beverage$75525%
- Education$1,20039%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Medwest Associates | 6 | $1,968 |
| Arthrex | 7 | $542 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 3 | $126 |
| Orthofix Medical, Inc. | 6 | $73 |
| Stryker | 2 | $68 |
| AbbVie | 3 | $58 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 1 | $41 |
| ERMI LLC | 1 | $37 |
| Smith+Nephew | 2 | $33 |
| Boston Scientific | 1 | $23 |
| DJO, LLC | 1 | $22 |
| GRT US Holding, Inc. | 1 | $22 |
| Linvatec Corporation | 1 | $17 |
| Organogenesis Inc. | 1 | $12 |
| Medacta USA, Inc. | 1 | $12 |
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.
How this compares
$3,055 in reported general payments places this provider in the 55th percentile of 60 hand surgery providers in Indiana.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Acetaminophen-CodeineAcetaminophen With Codeine | 93 | $365 |
| Diclofenac Sodium | 27 | $224 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 48 | $205 |
| Methylprednisolone | 29 | $115 |
| Oxycodone-AcetaminophenOxycodone Hcl/Acetaminophen | 16 | $101 |
| Meloxicam | 34 | $67 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 27 | $38 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other hand surgery in Merrillville
- Adelbert MenciasSouth Bend$172K
- Brandon SmetanaIndianapolis$136K
- Jeffrey GreenbergIndianapolis$121K
- Reed HoyerIndianapolis$110K
- Paul PerryEvansville$44K
- Nicholas CrosbyIndianapolis$18K
- Mathew WalkerGreenwood$17K
- Brett SchiffmanMunster$12K
- Kathryn PeckIndianapolis$11K
- Sameer PuriIndianapolis$11K
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.