Kevin Howe, MD
Orthopedic Surgery · Santa Rosa, CANPI 1225124076
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 94.9% of the total across 29 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. 9 manufacturers reported payments, led by Johnson & Johnson at 48.0% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2023 at $638 and has fallen 58.7% since, to $264 in 2025.
Across 29 payments — averaging $64.22 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Johnson & Johnson$894
- Orthalign Inc$485
- Medical Device Business Services, Inc.$211
- Evolution Surgical, Inc$86
- Derma Sciences, Inc.$61
- Avanos Medical$54
- plus $70 from 3 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$955%
- Food & beverage$1,76795%
Most of this is food and beverage — typically meals provided during product presentations at a clinic or hospital. Nationally that is the single largest category of reported payments by count.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Johnson & Johnson(2 entities) | 12 | $894 |
| Orthalign Inc | 3 | $485 |
| Medical Device Business Services, Inc. | 6 | $211 |
| Evolution Surgical, Inc | 1 | $86 |
| Derma Sciences, Inc. | 2 | $61 |
| Avanos Medical | 2 | $54 |
| Smith+Nephew | 1 | $29 |
| Vertex | 1 | $24 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 1 | $17 |
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.
- ORTHALIGN PLUS$485
- Velys$148
- EMPHASYS$148
- ATTUNE$130
- INHANCE$106
How this compares
$1,862 in reported general payments places this provider in the 65th percentile of 130 orthopedic surgery providers in California.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Cephalexin | 243 | $1,173 |
| Celecoxib | 25 | $1,139 |
| Oxycodone Hcl | 48 | $459 |
| Meloxicam | 29 | $158 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 12 | $140 |
| Sulfamethoxazole-TrimethoprimSulfamethoxazole/Trimethoprim | 14 | $130 |
| Amoxicillin | 39 | $89 |
| Clindamycin Hcl | 19 | $57 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 13 | $41 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other orthopedic surgery in Santa Rosa
- Kent YingerSanta Rosa$809
- Marshall ChingOroville$17.8M
- Ran SchwarzkopfOrange$2M
- Brian ChingOroville$1.4M
- Peter KurzweilLong Beach$494K
- Scott Hackerla Mesa$434K
- Richard NussbaumSherman Oaks$238K
- William KimTorrance$164K
- Peter BordenTorrance$111K
- Raymond FolmarIrvine$70K
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.