Merrell Kauwe, DPM
Foot & Ankle Surgery · Billings, MTNPI 1154737344
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — travel and lodging (39.8%), food and beverage and education — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. Treace Medical Concepts, Inc. accounts for 67.7% of it on its own, with 13 other manufacturers making up the rest.
Across 36 payments — averaging $178.62 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Treace Medical Concepts, Inc.$4K
- Sioux Surgical Inc$1K
- Arthrex$213
- Organogenesis Inc.$115
- Stryker$94
- Bone Support Inc.$72
- plus $174 from 8 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$1,12517%
- Travel & lodging$2,56240%
- Food & beverage$1,60225%
- Education$1,14118%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Treace Medical Concepts, Inc. | 15 | $4,352 |
| Sioux Surgical Inc | 5 | $1,411 |
| Arthrex | 3 | $213 |
| Organogenesis Inc. | 2 | $115 |
| Stryker | 1 | $94 |
| Bone Support Inc. | 1 | $72 |
| Medline Industries LP | 1 | $36 |
| Smith+Nephew | 1 | $27 |
| Averitas Pharma Inc. | 1 | $26 |
| Merck | 2 | $24 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 1 | $20 |
| Pfizer | 1 | $15 |
| Mimedx Group, Inc. | 1 | $14 |
| Nevro Corp. | 1 | $13 |
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.
- Lapiplasty System$2,490
- LAPIPLASTY SYSTEM 1$1,439
How this compares
$6,430 in reported general payments places this provider in the 70th percentile of 34 foot & ankle surgery providers in Montana.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 46 | $394 |
| Terbinafine Hcl | 18 | $200 |
| Cephalexin | 25 | $140 |
| Meloxicam | 13 | $47 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other foot & ankle surgery in Billings
- Zachary LubekBillings$18K
- Ryan PayneBillings$3K
- Scott DemarsBillings$3K
- Kelda BeachyBillings$2K
- Paul OuradnikBillings$712
- Michael YorgasonBillings$270
- David BrowerBillings$208
- William OreillyBillings$170
- Craig McLawsBillings$12
- Dallin GreeneGlendive$187K
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.