Robert March, MD
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Chicago, ILNPI 1891809034
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $3,298 of the $4,057 with a category attached, or 81.3%. It is spread thinly across 28 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 21.4% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $2,007 and has fallen 91.1% since, to $179 in 2025. That places this record below the midpoint for thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) clinicians in IL, where the typical reported total is $3,905.
Across 81 payments — averaging $50.08 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Abiomed$866
- Philips North America LLC$758
- Edwards Lifesciences$693
- W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.$193
- Astellas Pharma US Inc$163
- Abbott$146
- plus $1K from 22 others
Across 24 payments — averaging $1000.19 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$24K
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$75819%
- Food & beverage$3,29881%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Abiomed | 14 | $866 |
| Philips North America LLC | 2 | $758 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 9 | $693 |
| W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. | 2 | $193 |
| Astellas Pharma US Inc | 4 | $163 |
| Abbott | 1 | $146 |
| Atricure, Inc. | 4 | $145 |
| Boston Scientific | 4 | $134 |
| Novartis | 6 | $111 |
| Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC | 1 | $111 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 2 | $108 |
| Cook Medical LLC | 1 | $91 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 8 | $90 |
| Amgen | 6 | $88 |
| Intuitive Surgical | 1 | $58 |
| Convatec Inc. | 2 | $40 |
| Amarin Pharma, Inc. | 2 | $37 |
| Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc. | 1 | $31 |
| Pfizer | 2 | $31 |
| Pharmacyclics LLC, An Abbvie Company | 1 | $27 |
| Biosense Webster, Inc. | 1 | $22 |
| Heartflow, Inc. | 1 | $22 |
| Sobi, Inc | 1 | $19 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 1 | $18 |
| Angiodynamics, Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| Haemonetics Corporation | 1 | $13 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 1 | $12 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 1 | $12 |
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
$4,057 in reported general payments places this provider in the 50th percentile of 220 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Illinois.
See all thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Illinois →
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 Chicago
- Jessica DoningtonChicago$314K
- S Christopher MalaisrieChicago$254K
- Patrick McCarthyChicago$241K
- Samuel KimChicago$221K
- Douglas JohnstonChicago$205K
- Gianluca TorregrossaChicago$197K
- Valluvan JeevanandamChicago$193K
- Husam BalkhyChicago$129K
- Christopher SalernoChicago$124K
- Duc PhamChicago$114K
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.