Robert Ballard, MD
Vascular Surgery · Appleton, WINPI 1902898182
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 99.2% of the total across 60 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. It is spread thinly across 22 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 20.5% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations. That places this record below the midpoint for vascular surgery clinicians in WI, where the typical reported total is $1,933.
Across 60 payments — averaging $26.86 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Intuitive Surgical$331
- Johnson & Johnson$180
- AstraZeneca$171
- Boston Scientific$162
- Endologix LLC$133
- Medtronic$128
- plus $507 from 16 others
Across 2 payments — averaging $874.37 each. An ownership or investment interest held by the physician or an immediate family member.
- Hubly Incorporated$2K
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$1,59899%
- Gifts$141%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Intuitive Surgical | 3 | $331 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 8 | $180 |
| AstraZeneca | 11 | $171 |
| Boston Scientific | 6 | $162 |
| Endologix LLC | 1 | $133 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 6 | $128 |
| Inari Medical, Inc. | 4 | $103 |
| Stryker | 3 | $67 |
| Novartis | 2 | $56 |
| Lemaitre Vascular, Inc. | 2 | $34 |
| Angiodynamics, Inc. | 1 | $33 |
| Cook Medical LLC | 2 | $28 |
| BD | 1 | $28 |
| W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. | 2 | $26 |
| Surmodics, Inc. | 1 | $23 |
| Pfizer | 1 | $23 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 1 | $22 |
| Phraxis, Inc. | 1 | $22 |
| Pinnacle Biologics, Inc | 1 | $14 |
| Davol Inc. | 1 | $14 |
| Cardiva Medical, Inc. | 1 | $13 |
| Cardiovascular Systems Inc. | 1 | $2 |
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.
- Da Vinci Surgical System$248
- AFX$133
How this compares
$1,612 in reported general payments places this provider in the 40th percentile of 81 vascular surgery providers in Wisconsin.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 25 | $23,076 |
| EliquisApixaban | 19 | $17,451 |
| ClopidogrelClopidogrel Bisulfate | 335 | $3,382 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 76 | $238 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Companies that both paid and supply prescribed drugs
These companies both reported payments to this provider and make drugs the provider prescribed under Medicare Part D in 2024. For most specialties this overlap is expected — a cardiologist who is paid by a cardiology drugmaker also treats heart disease. It is shown so the reader can see it, not because it implies anything on its own.
| Company | Paid to this provider | Part D cost of their drugs |
|---|---|---|
| Johnson & JohnsonXarelto | $180 | $23,07625 claims |
| PfizerEliquis | $23 | $17,45119 claims |
Reading this fairly. The Part D column is what drug plans and patients paid pharmacies — this provider received none of it, and it reflects how many patients they treat and what those drugs cost. Against peers, this provider's reported payments sit in the 40th percentile of 81 vascular surgery providers in Wisconsin.
Other vascular surgery in Appleton
- Alexander TretinyakAppleton$4K
- Stacey LejeuneWausau$105K
- Benjamin HerdrichWausau$90K
- Dai YamanouchiMadison$78K
- Tahlia WeisMarshfield$22K
- Kevin SchoepelWausau$17K
- Tiziano TallaritaEau Claire$15K
- John RobertsonTomah$15K
- Momodou JammehMilwaukee$14K
- Peter RossiMilwaukee$13K
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.