Has Stefan Kachala, MD received payments from drug or device companies?

Yes. Drug and device makers reported $12,668 in general payments to Stefan Kachala, MD across 73 transactions between 2019–2025. Most Open Payments records nationally are meals worth under $20; a reported payment is not evidence of wrongdoing.

Does a payment mean Stefan Kachala, MD did something wrong?

No. Federal law requires drug and device makers to report almost every transfer of value to a physician, including a $14 sandwich at a lunch presentation. Consulting fees, research funding and royalties to device inventors are ordinary, legal parts of medicine. This site reports what was disclosed; it makes no allegation.

Where does this information about Stefan Kachala, MD come from?

The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Payments come from Open Payments, published under the Physician Payments Sunshine Act. Billing and prescribing figures come from the Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners and Part D Prescriber public use files for 2024.

Stefan Kachala, MD

Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Waterbury, CTNPI 1538329578

Payments from drug & device makers

What this record shows

The money is spread across several categories — consulting fees (42.6%), food and beverage and travel and lodging — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 8 manufacturers reported payments, led by Medtronic at 46.7% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2022 at $6,677 and has fallen 90.6% since, to $630 in 2025.

$12,668in general payments, 2019–2025

Across 73 payments — averaging $173.54 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.

Medtronic$6K
Intuitive Surgical$4K
Johnson & Johnson$2K
Davol Inc.$162
Acumed LLC$150
Pulmonx Corporation$146
plus $53 from 2 others

$79,650in research payments, 2019–2025

Across 26 payments — averaging $3063.46 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$80K

What the payments were for

Consulting fees$5,40043%
Travel & lodging$2,25118%
Food & beverage$3,01824%
Education$2,00016%

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	21	$5,917
Intuitive Surgical	20	$3,958
Johnson & Johnson	25	$2,282
Davol Inc.	2	$162
Acumed LLC	1	$150
Pulmonx Corporation	1	$146
Avanos Medical	1	$27
Covidien LP	2	$26

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

$12,668 in reported general payments places this provider in the 75th percentile of 70 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Connecticut.

See all thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Connecticut →

Medicare billing

Part B allowed, 2024

$40,942

Medicare patients

Services billed

142

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	16	$210
Tramadol Hcl	12	$43

Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.

Other thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) in Waterbury

Jahnavi KakuturuWaterbury$2K
Arshad QuadriW. Hartford$626K
M Clive RobinsonBridgeport$496K
Justin BlasbergNew Haven$468K
Marc PelletierNew Haven$151K
Colleen PietrasNew Haven$68K
Michael EbrightStamford$67K
Prashanth VallabhajosyulaNew Haven$36K
Dustin WaltersFarmington$36K
Daniel BoffaNew Haven$26K

See the full list for Connecticut →

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.

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