Kris Smith, MD
Neurological Surgery · Phoenix, AZNPI 1821085473
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by consulting fees: $26,573 of the $28,880 with a category attached, or 92.0%. 9 manufacturers reported payments, led by Aesculap, Inc. at 56.2% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2024 at $20,355 and has fallen 99.0% since, to $203 in 2025.
Across 29 payments — averaging $995.88 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Aesculap, Inc.$16K
- GT Medical Technologies, Inc$7K
- Carl Zeiss Meditec USA, Inc.$3K
- Medtronic$2K
- Novocure Inc.$149
- Zap Surgical Systems, Inc.$129
- plus $220 from 3 others
Across 60 payments — averaging $1796.88 each. Payments tied to a research study. These frequently flow through the physician to a hospital or research institution rather than to the physician personally.
- Monteris Medical Corporation$85K
- Medtronic$16K
- Arbor Pharmaceuticals, Inc.$6K
Across 4 payments — averaging $3400.39 each. An ownership or investment interest held by the physician or an immediate family member.
- Phasor Health, LLC$14K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$26,57392%
- Travel & lodging$3441%
- Food & beverage$1,9637%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Aesculap, Inc. | 4 | $16,235 |
| GT Medical Technologies, Inc | 15 | $7,233 |
| Carl Zeiss Meditec USA, Inc. | 2 | $3,344 |
| Medtronic | 2 | $1,569 |
| Novocure Inc. | 1 | $149 |
| Zap Surgical Systems, Inc. | 1 | $129 |
| Elekta, Inc. | 1 | $100 |
| Integra Lifesciences Corporation | 2 | $63 |
| Osteomed LLC | 1 | $58 |
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.
- GammaTile$6,898
- AESCULAP$4,335
- CONVIVO$3,344
- Oncology$149
- ZAP-X MV IMAGER$129
- ZAP-X TREATMENT PLANNING SOFTWARE$129
- ZAP-X TREATMENT DELIVERY SOFTWARE$129
- ZAP-X RADIOSURGERY SYSTEM$129
- Unity$100
- Mosaiq$100
- Versa HD$100
- METRIQ$100
- SYNERGY$100
How this compares
$28,880 in reported general payments places this provider in the 70th percentile of 173 neurological surgery providers in Arizona.
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.
Other neurological surgery in Phoenix
- Robert SpetzlerPhoenix$12.8M
- Juan UribePhoenix$6.7M
- Stephen PapadopoulosPhoenix$6M
- Volker SonntagPhoenix$2M
- Jay TurnerPhoenix$1.2M
- Michael LawtonPhoenix$761K
- Bryan LeePhoenix$441K
- Randall PorterPhoenix$410K
- Joseph ZabramskiPhoenix$381K
- Francisco PoncePhoenix$292K
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.