Merick Kirshner, MD
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Phoenix, AZNPI 1831183870
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by speaking fees: $88,200 of the $108,553 with a category attached, or 81.3%. Medtronic accounts for 90.1% of it on its own, with 17 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $44,881 and has fallen 96.4% since, to $1,609 in 2025.
Across 397 payments — averaging $273.43 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Medtronic$98K
- Edwards Lifesciences$4K
- Abbott$3K
- Atricure, Inc.$1K
- Abiomed$793
- Bolton Medical Inc$406
- plus $1K from 12 others
Across 132 payments — averaging $5756.51 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.
- Medtronic$760K
What the payments were for
- Speaking & faculty fees$88,20081%
- Travel & lodging$6,4726%
- Food & beverage$13,85713%
- Education$250%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 215 | $97,824 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 68 | $3,761 |
| Abbott | 40 | $3,344 |
| Atricure, Inc. | 32 | $1,089 |
| Abiomed | 10 | $793 |
| Bolton Medical Inc | 4 | $406 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 7 | $361 |
| Cvrx, Inc. | 3 | $355 |
| Boston Scientific | 3 | $222 |
| Getinge USA Sales, LLC | 3 | $136 |
| Penumbra, Inc. | 1 | $69 |
| Johnson & Johnson(2 entities) | 3 | $55 |
| Novo Nordisk | 2 | $34 |
| Smith+Nephew | 2 | $33 |
| ZOLL Respicardia, Inc. | 1 | $22 |
| Dilon Technologies, Inc. | 1 | $19 |
| Chiesi USA, Inc. | 1 | $16 |
| CSL Behring | 1 | $15 |
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.
- CoreValve Evolut$68,828
- COREVALVE EVOLUT R$20,768
- Mitra Clip system$1,890
- INSPIRIS RESILIA aortic valve$1,465
- Carpentier-Edwards Physio II Annuloplasty Ring$451
- Impella$432
- Barostim Neo System$337
- Grafts$300
- APOLLOTM$201
- TRICLIP$191
- STERNALOCK BLU SYSTEM$183
- MitraClip$174
- MitraClip System$166
- SAPIEN 3 Ultra RESILIA$157
- Resolute$152
- Edwards SAPIEN 3 Transcatheter Heart Valve$146
- CARDIOMEMS$137
- WATCHMAN Access System$133
- Confirm Rx$114
- Vasoview Hemopro 2$107
How this compares
$108,553 in reported general payments places this provider in the 85th percentile of 100 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Arizona.
See all thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular 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 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) in Phoenix
- Dawn JaroszewskiPhoenix$794K
- Lishan AklogPhoenix$531K
- Abdul Samad HashimiPhoenix$175K
- Hao FangPhoenix$171K
- Kevin BradyPhoenix$143K
- Mark TassetPhoenix$118K
- Michael SmithPhoenix$29K
- Modesto ColonPhoenix$26K
- Mark PetersonPhoenix$20K
- Orazio AmabilePhoenix$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.