Joss Fernandez, MD
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Columbia, MONPI 1235173642
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — speaking fees (26.3%), consulting fees and education — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 36 manufacturers reported payments, led by Edwards Lifesciences at 34.8% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2022 at $39,253 and has fallen 76.5% since, to $9,214 in 2025. Among thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) clinicians in MO 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 352 payments — averaging $284.33 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Edwards Lifesciences$35K
- Intuitive Surgical$26K
- Cook Incorporated$17K
- Shockwave Medical, Inc$9K
- Cook Medical LLC$3K
- Atricure, Inc.$3K
- plus $7K from 30 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$24,85025%
- Speaking & faculty fees$26,29026%
- Travel & lodging$19,67720%
- Food & beverage$7,0927%
- Education$22,17422%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Edwards Lifesciences | 102 | $34,824 |
| Intuitive Surgical | 36 | $25,942 |
| Cook Incorporated | 3 | $17,490 |
| Shockwave Medical, Inc | 2 | $8,800 |
| Cook Medical LLC | 21 | $3,190 |
| Atricure, Inc. | 20 | $3,073 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 72 | $2,625 |
| Endologix LLC | 5 | $890 |
| Elite Orthopedics, LLC | 2 | $766 |
| Abiomed | 4 | $397 |
| Amgen | 32 | $391 |
| W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. | 3 | $368 |
| Arthrex | 2 | $268 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 6 | $129 |
| Merck | 2 | $121 |
| Silk Road Medical, Inc. | 5 | $86 |
| Davol Inc. | 3 | $80 |
| Abbott | 4 | $69 |
| Corcym Inc | 3 | $68 |
| LSI Solutions Inc | 2 | $67 |
| Johnson & Johnson(2 entities) | 4 | $62 |
| Stryker | 3 | $62 |
| Getinge USA Sales, LLC | 2 | $40 |
| Biomerieux Inc | 2 | $33 |
| Elutia, Inc. | 1 | $30 |
| BD | 1 | $28 |
| Cvrx, Inc. | 1 | $27 |
| Lemaitre Vascular, Inc. | 1 | $25 |
| Artivion, Inc. | 1 | $20 |
| Teleflex LLC | 1 | $19 |
| Bolton Medical Inc | 1 | $19 |
| Medela LLC | 1 | $17 |
| Novartis | 1 | $16 |
| Solventum Corporation | 1 | $14 |
| Philips North America LLC | 1 | $14 |
| Pfizer | 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.
- Edwards SAPIEN 3 Transcatheter Heart Valve$33,618
- DAVINCI XI$22,000
- Cook$17,986
- Shockwave IVL System with the Shockwave C2 Coronary IVL Catheter$8,800
- Da Vinci Surgical System$3,610
- ATRICLIP LAA EXCLUSION SYSTEM$2,022
- EPI-SENSE GUIDED COAGULATION SYSTEM WITH VISITRAX$1,902
- Micropuncture$1,466
- ENDURANT IIS$1,299
- Tornado$661
- ATRICURE ATRICLIP LAA EXCLUSION$609
- Impella$378
- AFX2 Bifurcated Endograft System$339
- Alto Abdominal Stent Graft System$325
- ATRICURE CRYOICE CRYOABLATION SYSTEM (CRYO2)$243
- GORE TAG Thoracic Branch Endoprosthesis$216
- Rosch-Uchida$207
- Cook Celect$178
- ENDOCROSS Device$147
- Torus Stent Graft System$147
How this compares
$100,083 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 113 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Missouri.
See all thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Missouri →
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 |
|---|---|---|
| ClopidogrelClopidogrel Bisulfate | 75 | $437 |
| Amiodarone Hcl | 41 | $282 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 27 | $247 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 36 | $184 |
| Metoprolol Tartrate | 59 | $178 |
| Rosuvastatin Calcium | 14 | $171 |
| Carvedilol | 24 | $117 |
| Losartan Potassium | 12 | $96 |
| Warfarin Sodium | 12 | $25 |
| Prednisone | 11 | $23 |
| Lisinopril | 14 | $22 |
| Potassium Chloride | 12 | $21 |
| Furosemide | 15 | $18 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) in Columbia
- John MarkleyColumbia$21K
- Sebastian WiesemannColumbia$10K
- Jussuf KaifiColumbia$9K
- Richard MellittColumbia$8K
- Justin van MeeterenKansas City$398K
- Tsuyoshi KanekoSaint Louis$353K
- Ralph DamianoSaint Louis$134K
- Jeremy LeidenfrostChesterfield$97K
- Ronald NewCape Girardeau$61K
- Dante DaliSpringfield$58K
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.