Michael Firstenberg, MD
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Aurora, CONPI 1912961749
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — speaking fees (51.5%), food and beverage and consulting fees — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. Medtronic accounts for 74.0% of it on its own, with 23 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $25,663 and has fallen 89.0% since, to $2,813 in 2025.
Across 221 payments — averaging $208.18 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Medtronic$34K
- Abiomed$6K
- Baxter Healthcare$3K
- Spacelabs Healthcare Inc$2K
- Bolton Medical Inc$247
- Artivion, Inc.$187
- plus $1K from 18 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$6,82315%
- Speaking & faculty fees$23,70052%
- Travel & lodging$4,1149%
- Food & beverage$11,37125%
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) | 122 | $34,023 |
| Abiomed | 63 | $5,501 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 5 | $3,232 |
| Spacelabs Healthcare Inc | 1 | $1,624 |
| Bolton Medical Inc | 2 | $247 |
| Artivion, Inc. | 1 | $187 |
| Boston Scientific | 5 | $177 |
| Portola Pharmaceuticals, LLC | 1 | $141 |
| Intuitive Surgical | 1 | $117 |
| Livanova USA, Inc. | 1 | $107 |
| TELA Bio, Inc. | 1 | $102 |
| Getinge USA Sales, LLC | 2 | $87 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 3 | $81 |
| LSI Solutions Inc | 1 | $77 |
| Lemaitre Vascular, Inc. | 3 | $73 |
| Sumitomo Pharma America, Inc. | 1 | $63 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 1 | $35 |
| Covidien LP | 1 | $28 |
| Abbott | 1 | $22 |
| Kls-martin L.p. | 1 | $21 |
| KCI USA, Inc. | 1 | $19 |
| Philips North America LLC | 1 | $16 |
| Biotronik Inc. | 1 | $15 |
| Amgen | 1 | $14 |
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.
- Avalus$23,477
- Impella$3,068
- TISSEEL$3,039
- Tri-Ad$3,000
- Mosaic$1,346
- Penditure$708
- Simulus$375
- Surgidac$265
- CoreValve Evolut$245
- BioGlue$187
- On-X$187
- SynerGraft$187
- THORAFLEX HYBRID$152
- ANDEXXA$141
- GENERAL - STRUCTURAL HEART$125
- Da Vinci Surgical System$117
- No Related Product$109
- Perfusion Tubing$107
- OviTex Reinforced Bioscaffold With Permanent Polymer (OviTex)$102
How this compares
$46,007 in reported general payments places this provider in the 80th percentile of 72 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Colorado.
See all thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Colorado →
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 Aurora
- Robert MeguidAurora$114K
- Thomas ReeceAurora$110K
- Joseph ClevelandAurora$85K
- Jay PalAurora$79K
- Jordan HoffmanAurora$72K
- John MitchellAurora$52K
- Muhammad AftabAurora$42K
- Nicholas TemanAurora$35K
- Jessica RoveAurora$32K
- Elizabeth DavidAurora$30K
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.