Lifford Lancaster, MD
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Nashville, TNNPI 1639116379
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — food and beverage (47.4%), travel and lodging and speaking fees — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. Intuitive Surgical accounts for 65.4% of it on its own, with 12 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $5,461 and has fallen 86.8% since, to $723 in 2025.
Across 81 payments — averaging $101.28 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Intuitive Surgical$5K
- Surgical Specialties Corporation (US), Inc. (dba Corza Medical)$946
- Artivion, Inc.$789
- Johnson & Johnson$263
- Cvrx, Inc.$237
- Kls-martin L.p.$214
- plus $391 from 7 others
What the payments were for
- Speaking & faculty fees$6958%
- Travel & lodging$3,62144%
- Food & beverage$3,88847%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Intuitive Surgical | 24 | $5,364 |
| Surgical Specialties Corporation (US), Inc. (dba Corza Medical) | 13 | $946 |
| Artivion, Inc. | 22 | $789 |
| Johnson & Johnson(2 entities) | 10 | $263 |
| Cvrx, Inc. | 3 | $237 |
| Kls-martin L.p. | 2 | $214 |
| Dilon Technologies, Inc. | 1 | $144 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 1 | $97 |
| Stryker | 1 | $67 |
| Lemaitre Vascular, Inc. | 1 | $34 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 1 | $21 |
| On Target Laboratories, Inc | 1 | $16 |
| Medtronic | 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.
- Da Vinci Surgical System$5,088
- VASCULAR$194
- HemoBlast Bellows$144
- Barostim Neo System$127
How this compares
$8,203 in reported general payments places this provider in the 65th percentile of 115 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Tennessee.
See all thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) 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 |
|---|---|---|
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 30 | $29,348 |
| GimotiMetoclopramide Hcl | 11 | $22,600 |
| ClopidogrelClopidogrel Bisulfate | 87 | $938 |
| Cilostazol | 13 | $403 |
| Warfarin Sodium | 31 | $220 |
| Oxycodone-AcetaminophenOxycodone Hcl/Acetaminophen | 14 | $92 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Companies that both paid and supply prescribed drugs
These companies both reported payments to this provider and make drugs the provider prescribed under Medicare Part D in 2024. For most specialties this overlap is expected — a cardiologist who is paid by a cardiology drugmaker also treats heart disease. It is shown so the reader can see it, not because it implies anything on its own.
| Company | Paid to this provider | Part D cost of their drugs |
|---|---|---|
| Johnson & JohnsonXarelto | $263 | $29,34830 claims |
Reading this fairly. The Part D column is what drug plans and patients paid pharmacies — this provider received none of it, and it reflects how many patients they treat and what those drugs cost. Against peers, this provider's reported payments sit in the 65th percentile of 115 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Tennessee.
Other thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) in Nashville
- Grayson WheatleyNashville$900K
- V ReddyNashville$760K
- Clayton KaiserNashville$124K
- Sreekumar SubramanianNashville$98K
- Erin GillaspieNashville$95K
- Amber EdwardsNashville$83K
- Caitlin DemarestNashville$33K
- Henry ToddNashville$28K
- Swaroop BommareddiNashville$26K
- Ali IrshadNashville$20K
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.