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Larry Shears, MD

Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Chattanooga, TNNPI 1922035864

Payments from drug & device makers

What this record shows

This record is dominated by food and beverage: $7,078 of the $8,883 with a category attached, or 79.7%. 34 manufacturers reported payments, led by Atricure, Inc. at 31.5% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2024 at $2,666 and has fallen 72.5% since, to $734 in 2025.

$8,883in general payments, 2019–2025

Across 226 payments — averaging $39.31 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.

  • Atricure, Inc.$3K
  • Abbott$914
  • Medtronic$906
  • Edwards Lifesciences$758
  • Cvrx, Inc.$722
  • Abiomed$645
  • plus $2K from 28 others
$1,169in research payments, 2019–2025

Across 1 payment — averaging $1169.00 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.

  • Edwards Lifesciences$1K

What the payments were for

  • Travel & lodging$1,80520%
  • Food & beverage$7,07880%

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

19
20
21
22
23
24
25

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.

CompanyPaymentsTotal
Atricure, Inc.76$2,798
Abbott14$914
Medtronic(2 entities)34$906
Edwards Lifesciences14$758
Cvrx, Inc.12$722
Abiomed13$645
ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp)11$314
Intuitive Surgical4$239
Getinge USA Sales, LLC7$225
Bard Access Systems, Inc.2$157
Inari Medical, Inc.1$150
Baxter Healthcare2$125
Medical Device Business Services, Inc.1$116
Johnson & Johnson(2 entities)4$104
Boston Scientific2$83
Surgical Specialties Corporation (US), Inc. (dba Corza Medical)2$77
Cordis US CORP.4$73
Corcym Inc1$72
Chiesi USA, Inc.3$66
Smoky Mountain Surgical LLC2$55
Cardiva Medical, Inc.2$46
E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C.2$31
Angiodynamics, Inc.1$30
Shockwave Medical, Inc1$23
Artivion, Inc.1$22
LSI Solutions Inc1$20
Livanova USA, Inc.1$19
Novartis1$18
Biosense Webster, Inc.1$18
Olympus America Inc.1$14
Pfizer1$13
AstraZeneca1$11
GE HealthCare2$10
Kls-martin L.p.1$10

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

$8,883 in reported general payments places this provider in the 70th percentile of 115 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Tennessee.

See all thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Tennessee →

Medicare billing

Part B allowed, 2024
$174,032
Medicare patients
110
Services billed
295

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 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) in Chattanooga

See the full list for Tennessee →

Where these figures come from

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