Robert Oakes, MD
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Lincoln, NENPI 1992883599
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
16 manufacturers reported payments, led by Abbott at 35.2% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $1,832 and has fallen 84.2% since, to $290 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 80 payments — averaging $65.52 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Abbott$2K
- Atricure, Inc.$1K
- Zimmer Biomet$559
- Artivion, Inc.$515
- Medtronic$421
- Edwards Lifesciences$346
- plus $432 from 10 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$2,42446%
- Food & beverage$2,81854%
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 | 16 | $1,845 |
| Atricure, Inc. | 10 | $1,124 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 7 | $559 |
| Artivion, Inc. | 13 | $515 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 12 | $421 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 7 | $346 |
| Abiomed | 5 | $171 |
| Johnson & Johnson(2 entities) | 2 | $58 |
| Livanova USA, Inc. | 1 | $57 |
| BD | 1 | $29 |
| KARL Storz Endoscopy-america | 1 | $24 |
| Getinge USA Sales, LLC | 1 | $22 |
| Cvrx, Inc. | 1 | $21 |
| Conetic Solutions, Inc. | 1 | $21 |
| Acera Surgical, Inc. | 1 | $18 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 1 | $10 |
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
$5,241 in reported general payments places this provider in the 40th 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 Lincoln
- Richard ThompsonLincoln$55K
- Ryan ShelstadLincoln$29K
- Andrew GoldsteinLincoln$3K
- Deepak GangaharLincoln$125
- Helenmari MerrittOmaha$287K
- John BatterOmaha$29K
- Kim DuncanOmaha$23K
- David BerkheimOmaha$20K
- John UmOmaha$16K
- Karin TrujilloOmaha$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.