Pankaj Kulshrestha, MD
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Kearney, NENPI 1619900065
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by travel and lodging: $4,770 of the $6,785 with a category attached, or 70.3%. 14 manufacturers reported payments, led by Edwards Lifesciences at 28.8% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $2,255 and has fallen 96.0% since, to $89 in 2025. That places this record below the midpoint for thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) clinicians in NE, where the typical reported total is $6,785.
Across 54 payments — averaging $125.64 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Edwards Lifesciences$2K
- Davol Inc.$2K
- Centinel Spine, LLC$1K
- Zimmer Biomet$1K
- Medtronic$379
- Dilon Technologies, Inc.$149
- plus $381 from 8 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$4,77070%
- Food & beverage$2,01430%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Edwards Lifesciences | 22 | $1,955 |
| Davol Inc. | 8 | $1,745 |
| Centinel Spine, LLC | 2 | $1,126 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 9 | $1,050 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 3 | $379 |
| Dilon Technologies, Inc. | 1 | $149 |
| AstraZeneca | 1 | $88 |
| W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. | 2 | $83 |
| Conetic Solutions, Inc. | 1 | $60 |
| Atricure, Inc. | 1 | $58 |
| Stryker | 1 | $29 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 1 | $28 |
| Lemaitre Vascular, Inc. | 1 | $20 |
| Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc. | 1 | $16 |
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
$6,785 in reported general payments places this provider in the 50th percentile of 29 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Nebraska.
See all thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Nebraska →
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 Kearney
- Broadus AtkinsKearney$5K
- Helenmari MerrittOmaha$287K
- Richard ThompsonLincoln$55K
- John BatterOmaha$29K
- Ryan ShelstadLincoln$29K
- Kim DuncanOmaha$23K
- David BerkheimOmaha$20K
- John UmOmaha$16K
- Karin TrujilloOmaha$16K
- Anthony CastleberryOmaha$16K
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.