Stephen Gates, MD
Orthopaedic Surgery · San Antonio, TXNPI 1124414933
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — education (46.3%), food and beverage and travel and lodging — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 4 manufacturers reported payments, led by Liberty Surgical Inc. at 46.3% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2021 at $1,855 and has fallen 95.0% since, to $93 in 2024. That places this record below the midpoint for orthopaedic surgery clinicians in TX, where the typical reported total is $4,671.
Across 17 payments — averaging $152.52 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Liberty Surgical Inc.$1K
- Stryker$1K
- KCI USA, Inc.$101
- Smith+Nephew$93
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$59423%
- Food & beverage$79831%
- Education$1,20046%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Liberty Surgical Inc. | 1 | $1,200 |
| Stryker | 12 | $1,198 |
| KCI USA, Inc. | 3 | $101 |
| Smith+Nephew | 1 | $93 |
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
$2,593 in reported general payments places this provider in the 35th percentile of 1,337 orthopaedic surgery providers in Texas.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Ondansetron Hcl | 108 | $510 |
| Diclofenac Sodium | 19 | $414 |
| Oxycodone Hcl | 108 | $405 |
| Methylprednisolone | 47 | $345 |
| Doxycycline Monohydrate | 12 | $229 |
| Ondansetron OdtOndansetron | 12 | $89 |
| Cyclobenzaprine Hcl | 17 | $81 |
| Meloxicam | 32 | $63 |
| Naproxen | 12 | $51 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 17 | $40 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other orthopaedic surgery in San Antonio
- Stephen BurkhartSan Antonio$185.3M
- Michael WirthSan Antonio$4.5M
- Ravi KariaSan Antonio$1.1M
- Charles RockwoodSan Antonio$975K
- Christopher ChaputSan Antonio$959K
- Frank ButtacavoliSan Antonio$866K
- Robert HartzlerSan Antonio$654K
- Bernard MorreySan Antonio$639K
- Animesh AgarwalSan Antonio$408K
- Ralph GarzaSan Antonio$390K
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.