Sean Keem, MD
Orthopaedic Surgery · Seattle, WANPI 1205924784
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by speaking fees: $169,949 of the $247,231 with a category attached, or 68.7%. Medtronic accounts for 76.3% of it on its own, with 10 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $119,062 and has fallen 99.5% since, to $565 in 2025. Among orthopaedic surgery clinicians in WA with any reported payments, this total sits in the top 5% — high for the specialty, which is a reason to read the composition above rather than the number alone.
Across 172 payments — averaging $1437.39 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Medtronic$189K
- Globus Medical$26K
- Medical Device Business Services, Inc.$16K
- Aegis Spine, Inc.$6K
- Spineart USA Inc$5K
- Corelink, LLC$2K
- plus $4K from 5 others
Across 2 payments — averaging $21,650 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.
- Medtronic$43K
Across 14 payments — averaging $4563.21 each. An ownership or investment interest held by the physician or an immediate family member.
- Aegis Spine, Inc.$46K
- Amplify Surgical, Inc.$18K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$49,28720%
- Speaking & faculty fees$169,94969%
- Travel & lodging$20,7328%
- Food & beverage$7,1633%
- Gifts$1000%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 105 | $188,727 |
| Globus Medical(2 entities) | 14 | $25,627 |
| Medical Device Business Services, Inc. | 8 | $16,018 |
| Aegis Spine, Inc. | 1 | $6,000 |
| Spineart USA Inc | 5 | $4,535 |
| Corelink, LLC | 11 | $2,101 |
| Alphatec Spine, Inc | 6 | $1,961 |
| Surgalign Spine Technologies, Inc. | 8 | $985 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 10 | $920 |
| Seaspine Orthopedics Corporation | 3 | $227 |
| Sanara Medtech Inc. | 1 | $129 |
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.
- CLYDESDALE$67,022
- DIVERGENCE-L$45,768
- PIVOX Oblique Lateral Spinal System$33,189
- CORBEL$25,274
- INFUSE BONE GRAFT$20,000
- Spine - New Product$6,000
- PYRAMETRIX$3,941
- PERLA C$3,750
- FUSE SPINAL SYSTEM$2,500
- Other - Miscellaneous$1,724
- Perla TL$755
- CD HORIZON$563
- COFLEX INTERLAMINAR TECHNOLOGY, 10MM$346
- ANTERALIGN SPINAL SYSTEM WITH TITAN NANOLOCK SURFACE TECHNOLOGY$283
- coflex$247
- CONDUIT$239
- UNID_PASS$213
- IdentiTi$182
- CATALYFT PL EXPANDABLE INTERBODY SYSTEM$156
- COFIX IMPLANT 10 MM$138
How this compares
$247,231 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 495 orthopaedic surgery providers in Washington.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 17 | $177 |
| Oxycodone-AcetaminophenOxycodone Hcl/Acetaminophen | 17 | $165 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 14 | $24 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other orthopaedic surgery in Seattle
- James PritchettSeattle$6.4M
- James CrutcherSeattle$3.5M
- Keith MayoSeattle$3.1M
- Matthew SaltzmanSeattle$1.8M
- Burt YaszaySeattle$1.3M
- Sean ToomeySeattle$1.2M
- Robert HartSeattle$942K
- Jeffrey RohSeattle$604K
- Michael BrageSeattle$496K
- Daniel SchwartzSeattle$424K
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.