Michael Nolen, MD
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Little Rock, ARNPI 1164515318
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $11,129 of the $14,590 with a category attached, or 76.3%. It is spread thinly across 26 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 24.0% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations. Reporting peaked in 2024 at $4,075 and has fallen 60.5% since, to $1,611 in 2025.
Across 204 payments — averaging $71.52 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Abbott$3K
- Abiomed$3K
- Atricure, Inc.$2K
- Medtronic$1K
- Edwards Lifesciences$799
- Endologix LLC$414
- plus $3K from 20 others
Across 4 payments — averaging $1552.50 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.
- Edwards Lifesciences$6K
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$3,46124%
- Food & beverage$11,12976%
Most of this is food and beverage — typically meals provided during product presentations at a clinic or hospital. Nationally that is the single largest category of reported payments by count.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Abbott | 43 | $3,497 |
| Abiomed | 29 | $3,286 |
| Atricure, Inc. | 59 | $2,154 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 19 | $1,404 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 7 | $799 |
| Endologix LLC | 1 | $414 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 4 | $376 |
| Stryker | 6 | $351 |
| Elutia, Inc. | 5 | $282 |
| Lemaitre Vascular, Inc. | 5 | $274 |
| Surgical Specialties Corporation (US), Inc. (dba Corza Medical) | 2 | $204 |
| Shockwave Medical, Inc | 2 | $188 |
| Angiodynamics, Inc. | 1 | $178 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 3 | $151 |
| Bolton Medical Inc | 1 | $147 |
| Haemonetics Corporation | 2 | $146 |
| Livanova USA, Inc. | 1 | $146 |
| Silk Road Medical, Inc. | 2 | $138 |
| Boston Scientific | 2 | $119 |
| Kls-martin L.p. | 3 | $109 |
| Z-medica, LLC | 1 | $105 |
| Smith+Nephew | 2 | $37 |
| Midsouth Orthopedics Inc. | 1 | $31 |
| Teleflex LLC | 1 | $23 |
| Chiesi USA, Inc. | 1 | $19 |
| KCI USA, Inc. | 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.
- Impella$2,858
- Epic$1,326
- ATRICURE SYNERGY ABLATION SYSTEM$612
- AFX$414
- COREVALVE EVOLUT R$403
- SJM REGENT$294
- INSPIRIS RESILIA aortic valve$289
- NAVITOR$282
- Valiant Captivia$279
- Edwards SAPIEN 3 Transcatheter Heart Valve$155
- MITRIS RESILIA Mitral Valve$152
- CoreValve Evolut$152
- Octopus$151
- 2ND GEN CENTRIMAG PRIMARY CONSOLE$147
- Grafts$147
- LifeSPARC System$146
- ECM Patch,Pouch$143
- HeartMate 3 Left Ventricular Assist Device$132
- MitraClip System$131
- RESTOREFLOW$127
How this compares
$14,590 in reported general payments places this provider in the 70th percentile of 48 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Arkansas.
See all thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Arkansas →
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 |
|---|---|---|
| EliquisApixaban | 19 | $11,901 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 14 | $220 |
| Amlodipine Besylate | 14 | $121 |
| Potassium Chloride | 16 | $115 |
| Allopurinol | 188 | $112 |
| Famotidine | 186 | $110 |
| Metoprolol Tartrate | 34 | $98 |
| Hydralazine Hcl | 14 | $62 |
| Furosemide | 25 | $56 |
| Hydrochlorothiazide | 14 | $22 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) in Little Rock
- Bassam ShukrallahLittle Rock$325K
- Pouya HemmatiLittle Rock$168K
- Katy MarinoLittle Rock$99K
- Charles ColeLittle Rock$23K
- Karol MudyLittle Rock$21K
- Jason MuesseLittle Rock$20K
- Kristofer FreelandLittle Rock$16K
- John StreitmanLittle Rock$14K
- John RansomLittle Rock$12K
- David DeanLittle Rock$8K
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.