Melissa Cheers, MD
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Idaho Falls, IDNPI 1801235742
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — travel and lodging (44.8%), education and food and beverage — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 15 manufacturers reported payments, led by Intuitive Surgical at 57.4% of the total. 2025 is the largest year on record at $9,552, more than ten times the $649 reported in 2020.
Across 118 payments — averaging $131.23 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Intuitive Surgical$9K
- Edwards Lifesciences$2K
- Medtronic$1K
- Atricure, Inc.$1K
- Abiomed$694
- Olympus Corporation Of The Americas$396
- plus $589 from 9 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$6,93445%
- Food & beverage$3,55223%
- Education$5,00032%
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 | 23 | $8,888 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 20 | $2,246 |
| Medtronic | 13 | $1,409 |
| Atricure, Inc. | 43 | $1,264 |
| Abiomed | 3 | $694 |
| Olympus Corporation Of The Americas | 2 | $396 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 4 | $337 |
| Bolton Medical Inc | 1 | $79 |
| Abbott | 2 | $42 |
| Revance Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $38 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 2 | $35 |
| Boston Scientific | 1 | $19 |
| Livanova USA, Inc. | 1 | $14 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 1 | $14 |
| Kls-martin L.p. | 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.
How this compares
Too few thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Idahoto place this figure against a meaningful peer group, so we don't.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Metoprolol Succinate | 22 | $168 |
| ClopidogrelClopidogrel Bisulfate | 23 | $93 |
| Furosemide | 12 | $16 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) in Idaho Falls
- Edward SetserIdaho Falls$14K
- Denis RaleighIdaho Falls$3K
- Stephen JonesBoise$316K
- Robert FarivarBoise$140K
- Julio VasquezPocatello$48K
- Ashley MorganBoise$30K
- Benedict TaylorBoise$26K
- Matthew SchoolfieldBoise$22K
- Andrew MesherBoise$8K
- Rosemarie SerroneBoise$7K
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.