Robert Milam, MD
Orthopaedic Surgery · Charlotte, NCNPI 1881676682
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — consulting fees (59.0%), food and beverage and travel and lodging — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 20 manufacturers reported payments, led by Bioventus LLC at 35.5% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2020 at $10,357 and has fallen 95.8% since, to $439 in 2025.
Across 94 payments — averaging $260.20 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Bioventus LLC$9K
- Stryker$5K
- Medical Device Business Services, Inc.$3K
- Cutting Edge Spine, LLC$3K
- Globus Medical$2K
- Orthofix Medical, Inc.$1K
- plus $2K from 14 others
Across 47 payments — averaging $4359.37 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.
- Orthofix Medical, Inc.$165K
- Globus Medical$16K
- Bioventus LLC$15K
- Centinel Spine, LLC$7K
- Baxter Healthcare$2K
What the payments were for
- Royalty or licence$2,72011%
- Consulting fees$14,42559%
- Speaking & faculty fees$2501%
- Travel & lodging$3,13513%
- Food & beverage$3,85516%
- Education$740%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Bioventus LLC | 5 | $8,679 |
| Stryker | 16 | $5,262 |
| Medical Device Business Services, Inc. | 1 | $2,925 |
| Cutting Edge Spine, LLC | 2 | $2,720 |
| Globus Medical(2 entities) | 17 | $1,815 |
| Orthofix Medical, Inc. | 27 | $1,106 |
| Medtronic | 8 | $507 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 4 | $334 |
| Synthes GmbH | 1 | $250 |
| Cerapedics Inc. | 2 | $245 |
| Alphatec Spine, Inc | 1 | $163 |
| Relievant Medsystems, Inc. | 1 | $154 |
| Intrinsic Therapeutics | 1 | $145 |
| Medicrea USA, Corp. | 1 | $36 |
| Heron Therapeutics, Inc. | 2 | $33 |
| Spine Wave, Inc. | 1 | $24 |
| Radius Health, Inc. | 1 | $19 |
| Theragen, Inc. | 1 | $15 |
| Zyla Life Sciences, Inc. | 1 | $13 |
| Pfizer | 1 | $13 |
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.
- OsteoAMP$8,609
- CASCADIA INTERBODY SYSTEM$3,250
- RAVINE LATERAL ACCESS SYSTEM$3,250
- CAYMAN PLATE SYSTEM$3,250
- MOUNTAINEER$2,925
- SYMPHONY$2,925
- SYNAPSE$2,925
- EVEREST SPINAL SYSTEM$1,223
- M6-C Artificial Cervical Disc$545
- ExcelsiusGPS Robotic Navigation System$499
- Legacy Stelkast Knee$337
- Intracept$308
- Pulse$258
- I-FACTOR PEPTIDE ENHANCED BONE GRAFT$245
- Spinal-Stim$225
- YUKON OCT SPINAL SYSTEM$175
- AVS ANCHOR-L$175
- SERRATO$161
- Excelsius - GPS$153
- BARRICAID ACD (ANNULAR CLOSURE DEVICE)$145
How this compares
$24,458 in reported general payments places this provider in the 75th percentile of 845 orthopaedic surgery providers in North Carolina.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Gabapentin | 63 | $864 |
| Celecoxib | 22 | $323 |
| Baclofen | 12 | $267 |
| Tizanidine Hcl | 68 | $262 |
| Diclofenac Sodium | 13 | $195 |
| Meloxicam | 62 | $161 |
| Oxycodone-AcetaminophenOxycodone Hcl/Acetaminophen | 17 | $141 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 33 | $125 |
| Prednisone | 32 | $113 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 14 | $97 |
| Oxycodone Hcl | 15 | $81 |
| Naproxen | 12 | $68 |
| Ondansetron Hcl | 14 | $67 |
| Cyclobenzaprine Hcl | 14 | $31 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other orthopaedic surgery in Charlotte
- Thomas FehringCharlotte$18.3M
- Walter BeaverCharlotte$7.4M
- Robert AndersonCharlotte$6.6M
- John MasonCharlotte$5.7M
- William DavisCharlotte$5.2M
- John EllingtonCharlotte$4.9M
- Carroll JonesCharlotte$3.6M
- John MasonisCharlotte$3.4M
- Bruce CohenCharlotte$2.4M
- Anthony KwonCharlotte$1.9M
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.