Katherine Buesser, MD
Orthopaedic Trauma · Nashville, TNNPI 1184118234
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — education (52.4%), grants and food and beverage — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 11 manufacturers reported payments, led by Smith+Nephew at 38.3% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $10,925 and has fallen 77.6% since, to $2,444 in 2025.
Across 104 payments — averaging $288.83 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Smith+Nephew$11K
- Elite Orthopedics, LLC$11K
- Stryker$2K
- Johnson & Johnson$2K
- Medical Device Business Services, Inc.$1K
- Zimmer Biomet$1K
- plus $390 from 5 others
What the payments were for
- Grants$5,45018%
- Travel & lodging$3,75012%
- Food & beverage$5,08217%
- Education$15,75052%
- Entertainment$70%
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 | 17 | $11,492 |
| Elite Orthopedics, LLC | 9 | $11,117 |
| Stryker | 27 | $2,392 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 24 | $2,042 |
| Medical Device Business Services, Inc. | 6 | $1,471 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 15 | $1,135 |
| Biocomposites Inc | 1 | $114 |
| Acumed LLC | 1 | $113 |
| Bone Support Inc. | 2 | $93 |
| Orthofix Medical, Inc. | 1 | $45 |
| Bioventus LLC | 1 | $25 |
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.
- NA$2,537
- MAKO$1,478
- EVOS$962
- Affixus$722
- TRIGEN InterTAN$543
- POLARSTEM$401
- AETOS Shoulder System$394
- PRO$270
- REDAPT$255
- MOTOBAND$238
- ACUMED$226
- VARIAX$166
- VA-LCP$146
- Hat-Trick$145
- HAMMERLOCK$129
- LCP$125
- Stimulan$114
- INnate Implant$113
- ACTIS$111
- TFN-Advance$101
How this compares
$30,039 in reported general payments places this provider in the 85th percentile of 27 orthopaedic trauma providers in Tennessee.
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 | 26 | $194 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other orthopaedic trauma in Nashville
- Tania FergusonNashville$155K
- Phillip MitchellNashville$32K
- Jason EvansNashville$28K
- Erin HoferNashville$25K
- William ObremskeyNashville$14K
- Donald AdamsNashville$13K
- Daniel JohnsonNashville$13K
- Lauren TatmanNashville$12K
- Mariel RickertNashville$6K
- Michelle HertzbergNashville$2K
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.